The Church should not take a position on the spring hunting referendum, according to Apostolic Administrator Charles Scicluna, though he said he still had to discuss the issue with the Bishop of Gozo.
Speaking on current affairs programme Dissett, he said he is personally opposed to hunting during the breeding season.
Mgr Scicluna also said there had been a drop in marriage annulment applications since the introduction of divorce.
Although at this stage it could not be officially confirmed that the drop in cases was the result of divorce legislation, he said the figures seemed to indicate more reluctance to marry in church and said more needed to be done to strengthen the institution of marriage.
Mgr Scicluna also said that the new Commission for the Safeguarding of Children had passed on two cases of suspected clerical child to the police and was investigating a third.
He explained that cases did not always involve a crime, in that there could be cases involving consensual sex between adults.
He explained that the commission examined every case before referring the matter to the police. He stressed that the main purpose of the commission is to promote a culture of prevention and safeguarding, to prevent abuse in the first place.
Asked if the Church should pay compensation for abuse by priests, Mgr Scicluna said that, in terms of civil and church law, the offender had to pay for his wrongdoing.
On calls by the Imam for permission to build two more mosques, Mgr Scicluna said that different religions should enjoy the same rights, inlcuding the right to have places of worship.
He added that it did not appear that many Catholics were converting to Islam. The bigger concern was falling church attendance - though he called for a census to be carried out even if this would shock certain people.
SHout welcomes bishop's position against spring hunting
In a statement this afternoon, the SHout (Spring Hunting Out) campaign welcomed Bishop Scicluna’s position against Spring Hunting.
Campaign manager Romina Tolu siad:
"Mgr Scicluna’s position that hunting should not occur during the breeding season is exactly what this is all about. Targeting birds on their way to breed is not sustainable and will only increase the decline of the turtle dove and quail in Europe."
Last October, Bishop Scicluna joined birdwatchers in Buskett to condemn violence against them.
Then he had encouraged people to appreciate nature as God's gift, take care of it and enjoy it so that the heritage of nature would continue in time. Yesterday, Ms Tolu said, he confirmed his commitment to nature and to sustainability.