Archbishop Paul Cremona this afternoon denied there had been any crusade by the Church in the divorce referendum campaign.
Replying to questions in his second interview on the media today, Mgr Cremona told RTK that to crusade meant to attack. Swords were used to spread the gospel during the crusades in the Middle Ages.
But although the Church did not conduct any crusade in the divorce referendum, it had a message to convey, the Archbishop said.
Mgr Cremona said that, as far as he knew, the Church did not attack any individuals but exerted its right to speak on the subject of divorce.
The Church did not impose anything on non-believers but, as was its right in a democratic country, it spread its message to Christians.
Mgr Cremona said that one of the Church's major challenges was the culture change which society was going through. In the past, religious life was practically part of the national culture.
Pointing out that he was not saying this had been right, the Archbishop said that while 30 to 40 years ago the Church was protected by culture where people who did not go to mass on Sunday were shunned, it was now tougher to admit going to church. So to live faith one had to make a personal decision.
The Church had to reflect on this point.
The Archbishop said that priests had been given guidelines on how to act during the referendum campaign. There might have those who exaggerated in their enthusiasm.
But there had been only one confirmed case where a priest had refused to give a woman Holy Communion after she said she would vote yes. An apology was promptly made.
Other cases had been claimed, but what the Church asked for the details, none were forthcoming.
"To this day, we have not been given any other names," he said.
A caller to the programme said that while the Archbishop had said there was no crusade, certain priests, including on RTK radio, had projected divorce as being the end of the world. The caller pointed out that swords were not used in modern day crusades.
The Archbishop did not refer to the comment.
He said however, that for the future, the Church needed to be closer to the heart of the community and the individual members of society.