There is no doubt that Archbishop Charles Scicluna speaks his mind and does so vociferously and with the immediacy that today’s news media demands. He had no problem taking a stand against hunting in spring, against buildings outside the development zones even for Church schools, against the legalisation of pornography and, more recently, against the suggestion of surrogacy.
It therefore came as no surprise that, accompanied by Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, he went to the Prime Minister to personally present the Church’s position paper against the public vilification of religion.
Mgr Scicluna does not mince words. Speaking in Mosta at the feast of Santa Marija, he said freedom of expression had limits and no one had the right to insult Christians. And he added in a challenging tone: “If the law does not protect Our Lady then we will defend her…Parliament can do whatever it wants but we will do our own thing.”
The implication was clear. Anyone willing to insult the Christian religion, in the name of art, jest or mere freedom of expression, will find a Church that will not stand idly by. “We will not impose our views on you but this does not give you the right to offend us,” Mgr Scicluna said at another occasion in Dingli.
The Archbishop does not say what action he has in mind. There could be picket lines, boycotts or even protests by Church faithful and, given Mgr Scicluna’s hands-on approach, it would come as no surprise that he would take the lead.
In decriminalising the vilification of religion, the government will be inviting trouble for two reasons.
First, despite the ongoing secularisation of the country, there are many whose religious sensitivity is immensely high. The cult of saints witnessed each year during the festa season sometimes borders on fanaticism. It is an indication of how explosive the situation can become. The law on vilification is primarily aimed to protect public order.
A second reason involves the nature of art itself. Artists court controversy, they thrive on it, and that is understandable because it is in the nature of art to challenge public concepts and ideas. For some, vilifying Christianity will be too much of an opportunity to miss but convincing people that it is art and not an offence will be hard.
Only recently, the Żieme statue that was placed at City Gate, caused an uproar. According to V-18, artist Austin Camilleri wanted to convey a message on power and politics but that is not what some people thought. There are many horse enthusiasts and lovers in Malta and what they saw was just a horse with three and not four legs. One can only imagine the reaction if it was a religious effigy that had been defaced or disfigured.
At the beginning of this year, the world was shocked by the massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, a target for Islamist terrorists because it printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.Unfortunately, the callous violence overshadowed what should have been the real issue for discussion.
Pope Francis left people in no doubt as to his views: “You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”
Violence in the name of religion can never be justified, however,provocation cannot be justified either. The planned changes to the law on the vilification of religion could well be an invitation to provocation.