It was reported on the website of the Times of Malta that Labour MP Etienne Grech insisted in Parliament that the Church should not deal with political issues. He contended that the role of the Church should be limited to its spiritual mission.

It is not the first time we have heard such arguments from various individuals and sectors of society. To keep on harping that the Church should not deal with political issues today, when we are living in a liberal and democratic society and where everyone can freely speak out one’s views, is unthought of.

We must realise that the human person is one entity and, therefore, when we are dealing with him we are dealing with his entire being and not either with his spiritual or material aspects. Thus, when dealing with the human person and the good of society as a whole, both Church and State should cooperate and work in unison.

Why muzzle the Church when her only concern is the well-being of every human person and the common good?

The  teaching of the Church appertains to man in his totality and it is therefore concerned with his spiritual, emotional, economic and social aspects of life.  The social doctrine of the Church emphatically states that: “Society - and with it, politics, the economy, labour, law, culture - is not simply a secular and worldly reality, and, therefore, outside or foreign to the message and economy of salvation.  Society, in fact, with all that is accomplished within it, concerns man.  Society is made up of men and women, who are ‘the primary and fundamental way for the Church’”.

The Church is not a threat to society.  When the authorities consult her social teaching our society is enhanced and enriched for, through her guidance, we would be able to ensure a more peaceful and just society for all.