Local Church leaders and critics will come together on October 2 to debate Cardinal Carlo Martini’s claim that the Church needs to admit its mistakes and undergo radical change.

The national conference is themed ‘Is the Church 200 years behind the times?’, cited from Cardinal Martini’s final interview last month, in which he said the Church was “tired”.

Pro-vicar Mgr Anton Gouder and Today Public Policy Institute head Martin Scicluna will be the main guests, with interventions from former President Eddie Fenech Adami and theologian Fr René Camilleri, among others.

Is the Church really refusing to move with the times? Should it adapt its teachings to come in line with sections of today’s society? Did the Maltese Church alienate an increasingly liberal society with its tough stand on divorce, the traditional family and IVF?

The questions will be addressed during the Times To Debate conference hosted by Intercontinental Malta in St Julian’s and chaired by The Times’ head of media Herman Grech. The discussion will start at 8.30am, preceded by breakfast at 8am.

The debate forms part of a series of discussions organised by The Times, The Sunday Times and timesofmalta.com.

A limited number of seats are available. Bookings will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.

If you are interested in contributing or following the debate, contact Nicola Busuttil or Charlene Le Gall at Intercontinental Malta on 2376 5771 or e-mail timestodebate@intercontinental.com.mt.