Prime Minister Joseph Muscat encouraged the Church to express its opinion, saying he looked forward to more discussion in the coming year about what was going on in society.

“We do not want a Church that sits on a fence, but one that speaks and listens,” he said as he exchanged New Year’s Day greetings with Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona and Vicar General Joseph Galea-Curmi, at the Archbishop’s Palace in Valletta.

In his address, Mgr Scicluna noted that the current environment allowed dialogue between the Church and the State.

Mgr Scicluna also greeted Opposition leader Simon Busuttil who said 2015 was an annus mirabilis for the Church, following several changes that included the Archbishop’s installation. “When you speak, people stop and listen,” Dr Busuttil told Mgr Scicluna, auguring that the Archbishop kept this up in the coming year.

When you speak, people stop and listen

In reply, Mgr Scicluna noted that the Church needed to lead by example, and in following Pope Francis’s appeals for theprotection of the environment, the Church itself was also responsible in safeguarding the environment.

Meanwhile, when addressing the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who greeted the Archbishop accompanied by MPs from both political parties, Mgr Scicluna referred to the recent tabling in Parliament of the Church’s position paper on the Embryo Protection Act. Speaker Anġlu Farrugia noted that, as with all such documents, MPs had a copy of the paper as this would help them reflect on the Act during debates.

Another delegation that met the Archbishop this afternoon was that from the judiciary, headed by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, who spoke of a society that was putting aside Catholic values, without replacing them with any point of reference.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader also exchanged greetings with the countries’ authorities, bodies and the public.