In his article ‘Good idea or an indecent proposal?’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, September 29), Michael Falzon was taken aback because the Archbishop proposed the setting up of a government entity to look into the country’s moral fibre.
Falzon remarks that “the Archbishop’s suggestion implies that the morality of the Catholic Church and what should be the secular morality of the State are one and the same thing”.
Why are we trying to distinguish between the morality of the State and that of the Church? Is not the human person one, wherever he is and whoever he is?
As long as we are trying to guard the dignity of the human person and the good of society as a whole, we should not mind from where and from whom such guidance comes.
Why are we trying to water down morality? Perhaps to suit our whims and consciences? Why is it that now? Is it because we consider ourselves living in a secular society in which we are no longer heeding to what the Church states or proposes, even though, what it teaches is for the good of our secular society, whether we are Catholics or not? The Church’s only concern is the dignity of the human person and the common good.
Whether a government entity is formed to look into the moral fibre of society is not that important, even though recommendable. What is of utmost importance is that politicians and legislators look into the moral dimension of what is being discussed to safeguard the dignity of the human person.
The moral sphere is not solely the responsibility of the Church and by suggesting that the State gives importance to the moral dimension in its policies and legislation is not an “admission that the Church has failed in its mission of teaching and inculcating moral principles among its flock”, as Falzon wrongly concludes.
Why can’t the Church and State work hand in hand for the good of our society, complementing one another rather than seen to be working to the detriment of each other?
Woe to us, as a society, if, because of the autonomy that exists between Church and State, we seem to imply that our secular society should be exempted from the moral order. This is emphasised by the Church when it discusses the distinction between the political and religious spheres.
“Catholic moral doctrine”, it emphatically states, “clearly rejects the prospects of an autonomy that is understood as independence from the moral law”.