Gozo Bishop Mario Grech voiced concern at the increasing demand for child-care centres, saying it was “worrying” that mothers wanted to use the facilities for their newborn children.
Society should be organised in such a way so women who wanted to be stay-at-home mothers were not forced to go out to work, leaving their children’s upbringing in other’s people’s hands, Mgr Grech said in a homily last Sunday to mark the feast of St Lucy.
Describing motherhood as a “great gift” that was second to none, Mgr Grech said he was worried that parents were asking for child-care centres for very young children.
“It is worrying that in this day, parents – especially mothers – want more child-care centres to leave their newborn children there as soon as their maternity leave is up,” he said.
The Bishop’s words come in the wake of a Budget investment of €1.3 million in three new child-care centres, a planned extension of maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks and an ongoing EU funded campaign – worth another €1.3 million – to encourage more women to enter and remain in the labour market.
The availability and affordability of child-care centres are considered to be key factors in encouraging more women to remain in work. Researcher and university lecturer Anna Borg, recently told The Times that such facilities should be viewed as an investment by the government as, by helping more women continue to work, they help economic growth.
Mgr Grech’s comments were made as he was speaking about society’s “orphans” – a category which he said had been widened as there were children who did not find shelter in their families.
Society and Christians should be concerned that there were children who qualified for care orders which, however, were not issued because of a lack of adequate structures that offered care and shelter.
Mgr Grech said he was recently informed by a teacher and education official that there were children who were “refused” at home but had nowhere to go in Gozo.
In his homily, Mgr Grech also focused on society’s “widows”, referring to the words of St Lucy when she said God spoke through them and through “orphans”, making them today’s “prophets”.
He said society today was “widowing” people – not because their partner died but because spouses chose to “dismantle a marriage”.
It was not right that the pain of these “widows” fell on deaf ears.
“Neither is it right that people who want to remain faithful to the commitment of the family and marriage are not given material, emotional and moral support,” Mgr Grech said.
In fact, the Gozo Diocese was organising monthly meetings for separated people – “a small contribution” in this direction. This reality was telling us that society needed Christ’s good news about marriage and the family, Mgr Grech added.
It had become harder for mankind to hear God’s voice, which had fallen silent, in all the surrounding noise.
“Man has difficulty hearing God because he is lacking peace and interior peace and can’t even hear himself,” Mgr Grech said.
Out of his love for mankind, God sent prophets to speak in His name in “emergency situations” where, at present, there was a spreading “spiritual drought”, moral poverty and persecution of Christians.
He pointed out that, at present, Christians were the largest religious group that were discriminated against because of their faith.