This newspaper recently reported Archbishop Charles Scicluna as saying that “Ethics classes are not a replacement for religion” (April 23). The article featured prominently a photo of a handshake between the Archbishop and Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.

The handshake reminded me of the debate between then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and neo-Marxist philosopher Jurgen Habermas, put to paper in the book The dialectics of secularisation. The two different schools of thought do not exactly tally.

A discussion on Italian TV between laicisti and credenti dealt with whether a priest should impart Easter blessings when on a pastoral visit to State schools in Bologna. The credenti purported that the Roman Catholic religion is the most diffused religion in Italy and, therefore, it should prevail, though not in a monopoly. The laicisti were quick to retaliate that contemporary Italy is a secular State, with no room for religion.

By a twist of the metaphor, one can argue that if I go to Italy and, come noon, I want to have lunch, most probably I go to an Italian restaurant. But, according to the stoic laicisti, I cannot choose a pizza Napoletana or a spaghetti Bolognese because, in so doing, I am being prejudiced against Chinese or Indian food, which are also present in multicultural Italy, albeit in a minority.

Similarly, if I happen to be in Dublin on March 17, I cannot enter an Irish pub and have a pint of Guinness because that means I am discriminating against the Budweiser firm, giving a two-tier treatment to the two respective breweries. The laicisti should stop being naïve and trying to suffocate God’s voice and presence in the world. They need to remember that if they reject the truism that “God is Love” (and non plus ultra) the onset of hell will be automatic and God would not be to blame for such a predicament.

God incarnates in man by a process called inculturation. The reverse process is: “Whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them” (Mt 13, 12).

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