The story on the front page of Times of Malta last Friday about the resignation of Archbishop Paul Cremona took most people by total surprise for a number of reasons.
For starters it is not common for bishops to resign before the age of 75. But people are mostly surprised as Cremona is loved by all. An expression of gratitude for his work is surely a happy duty for all to perform.
The last time I met him was on August 26. He had invited Fr René Camilleri, Fr Joe Inguanez and myself for a meeting after we had written critical comments about the situation of leadership in the Archdiocese of Malta.
The meeting was an example of the fraternal spirit of respect that should characterise the relationship between priests and their bishop.
While others unjustly imputed the worst of motives to our writings he gladly acknowledged that our contributions to the media emanate from our love for the Church and appreciated our good intentions.
We had a fruitful, frank and an open discussion about the problems affecting the Church.
During that meeting he had clearly stated he was actively reconsidering his position as Archbishop. These past six weeks that led to a decision must have been very hard ones indeed.
There is no doubt his decision to resign is solely motivated by one consideration: his love for the Lord and His Church.
He is not in any way interested in power. He is only interested in serving the Church.
The moment he realised his state of ill-health was hindering his ability to serve as much as he wished, he wrote to the Pope to inform him of his wish to resign.
His act of resigning is an act of love, self-sacrifice and generous service.
He showed for the Church a love similar to that shown by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
On the first anniversary of his nomination as Archbishop of Malta, the following was my comment in The Sunday Times of Malta:
“There are at least hundreds (perhaps a few thousands) who feel proud that Archbishop Cremona gave them his personal attention. They are grateful that he showed them in his inimitable way that he cares for them and that they are very important for him. The families he visited, the groups he met, the individuals he consoled, the associations he discussed with, the myriads that he has prayed for and with... The list is interminable.”
I continued writing:
“He is very good to tackle people. His smile is sincere. It is light years away from the Berlusconi-brand manufactured smile. He is neither overpowering nor overbearing, his hallmark should always be that he is the bishop of the people, not of the structures.”
A year later, in 2009, I wrote in this column: “He brought the Church closer to the people than anyone else did before him. One example suffices. A friend of mine told me that he had dinner twice with Archbishop Cremona and on both occasions, he was eating in the house of friends of his whom live together without being married.
“Is not eating with poġġuti – to use the negative term that many nies tas-sagristija would use – a more revolutionary occurrence than turning the Curia structures upside down?”
He was person-centred and not task oriented. As a bishop he had to have a good measure of both characteristics.
His natural inclination to care for people sometimes came in the way of needed difficult decisions that could, in the short term, hurt people.
This generosity towards people, together with lack of inclination to manage structures, sometimes weakened his role as leader. Decisions were postponed and structures not updated. His ill-health made matters worse.
One could see him struggling on in spite of the pain and limitations imposed on him by his weak health. He carried his cross with persevering love.
Last weekend was Cremona’s swansong. He announced an important pastoral development for our diocese, the introduction of permanent deacons and the institution of lay ministries.
The end was characterised by the putting into practice of an initiative he had shown support for from the beginning of his ministry as bishop.
Cremona, from the beginning of his episcopate, showed enthusiasm for the institution of the permanent deacons.
He had coupled that initiative with the proposal of a particular vision for the Church.
Archbishop Cremona’s act of resigning is an act of love, self-sacrifice and generous service
In a speech delivered during the synod of October 2008 he had acknowledged that nostalgia for a model of the Church that was alive and well 30 to 40 years ago, but dead and buried today, still stifled many in the Church in various ministries.
Fear, he had pointed out, was their reaction to contemporary culture.
The Archbishop had then proposed an alternative model of being a Church:
“We have to propose a new model of being Church, and the model which corresponds most to today’s reality is the primitive Christian community as it is described in chapters Two and Four of the Acts of the Apostles, and brought to life in the other writings of the New Testament.
“We have to compare the Church today to, and shape it on, that community.”
Quite naturally, this vision does not bind his successor, but is a vision that should be revisited, given that, for different reasons, it was never implemented.
I do not know whether his successor has already be chosen or not, officially or unofficially. One hopes and prays that the process will not take long.
Dithering about the successor will bring with it a lot of speculation which helps no one.
It is thus essential that the new shepherd of the Island of Paul will start his ministry soonest.
One also hopes and prays that Cremona’s retirement will be a fruitful one.
He will surely do what he loves doing most, that is, helping people without being shackled with administrative decisions and the problems brought about by the need to reform structures.
joseph.borg@um.edu.mt