Let's get to the hot potato of the day. No it's not Franco Debono—can he enter the history books please? Not as in "historical" but forgotten as in a bad dream? The hot potato is IVF.
Don't worry I don't intend delving into the mechanics or philosophical and ethical issues. Worthier people have treated that side of the subject. And clowns, I've often heard, should just jest.
My real concern is our religious leaders and the state of the church in Malta. Again worthier people have spoken so forgive me for venturing into this holy ground.
The bishops have jointly said that they had asked for, and received, approval from the Vatican before they issued their recent pastoral letter. All that proves to me is that the Vatican, or whoever was consulted, is just as cut off from reality as the local Curia. And the whole lot of them don't care about the sensibilities of all concerned in the IVF debate and those affected by the church's rigid stand.
The church militant is way past its prime. If it wants to remain relevant it should not castigate those clerics who didn't read the pastoral letter or made their deacons read it. The church leaders should ask these same clerics, and any others who read but murmured against the letter, to reveal what is wrong with the way the church is acting. That pastoral letter was a terribly unchristian one which made me wish—while hearing it being read in church—to stand up and holler and hiss my displeasure.
Do I want the church to change its stands on IVF, divorce, homosexuality, contraception and other thorny issues? Not at all: that is up to them and the Vatican, which has now seen some light at least in relation to contraception under certain circumstances. The Pope, in fact, has now said that the use of condoms might after all be better than getting infected with HIV.
The way the local church handles the issues is not just wrong—it sounds medieval and archaic. Whatever is said and done, at the moment it is more than obvious that the Bishop of Gozo is taking over the reins of power at the curia. I might read a million joint statements but the sentiments and the language behind the pastoral letter had the Gozo bishop imprimatur stamped all over them.
The Bishop of Gozo is a most forceful and dedicated man of the church—and I'm sure he means well. He is also making sure that all the fervently old-fashioned Catholics are big fans of his and seem to be egging him on to take these intransigent stands. His militancy and love of all that is traditional seems to be the way forward for the church today. Good luck to him.
Soon he will have just a few thousand fundamentalist believers following him and his decrees. If that is the right way may God and His Son graciously help us.