Gozo Bishop Mario Grech has rallied the faithful to speak up in the face of injustice, corruption and drug trafficking.

There are times when silence is a form of complicity or approval of evil. In these cases silence is not golden but a sign that man is weak

Addressing parishioners in Qala last Sunday, where he delivered the homily on the occasion of the feast of St Joseph, Mgr Grech rebuffed the maxim “silence is golden”.

“There are times when silence is a form of complicity or approval of evil. In these cases silence is not golden but a sign that man is weak. Silence can be a sin of omission,” he said, urging the faithful to reject omertà.

The course of justice is often obstructed, he added, because people failed to collaborate so that “the mask is torn off the criminals’ face”.

He also chastised Christians for being absent when society debated principles that were “not negotiable” such as the beginning and end of life, the dignity of marriage between a man and a woman, the family, religious freedom and social justice.

“Christians betray the Word of God when they are absent from society,” he said.

However, Mgr Grech acknowledged the problem was a result of the passive and indifferent attitude adopted by Christians on issues of faith.

“Those whose ears hunger for God’s word are not a lot,” Mgr Grech said, adding Christians were supposed to have a critical presence in the public sphere.