A Paola band club has asked the Vatican to determine whether a decree issued in March 1999 and banning new bands from playing in Church feasts was in order.

The Għaqda Soċjali Mużikali Kristu Sultan of Paola has filed an application with the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of the Legislative Texts at the Vatican, asking it to decide whether the general decree issued by then Archbishop Joseph Mercieca, dated March 1999, establishing that new bands cannot participate in Church feasts, was in conformity with the universal laws of the Church.

The club feels that the decree broke its fundamental right to be treated equally, as protected by the Constitution, by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties and by the Canonical Code and natural rights.

It said it had to resort to legal assistance after its attempts to reach an agreement with the Ecclesiastical authorities failed to bear fruit. In spite of the legal proceedings it has instituted, the band club said it would be honouring the agreement until further developments.