Among the different ideas which are being proposed to legislate divorce there is the view that introducing responsible divorce is part of the process for the Europeanisation of Malta. Can divorce legislation make Malta truly European? Speaking from the perspective of the magisterial teaching of Pope John Paul II the answer is surely in the negative.

In fact, during his homily which he delivered on Saturday, June 28, 2003, on the occasion of the first vespers of the solemnity of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, the Holy Father explicitly pointed out that Europe’s social, cultural and religious fabric is essentially Christian. “The ‘Good News’ was and continues to be a source of life for Europe. If it is true that Christianity cannot be restricted to any particular culture but converses with each one, to help them all to express their best qualities in every field of knowledge and human action, then the Christian roots of Europe are the main guarantee of its future. Could a tree that had no roots grow and develop? Europe, do not forget your history!”

Divorce is diametrically opposed to Christ’s teaching on marriage. “Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder… For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery” (Matt 19, 4-6, 8-9).

In view of the above, two clear-cut views of Jesus concerning the ill of divorce and Pope John Paul II’s regarding Europe’s Christian roots, does it still make sense to keep insisting on divorce as a European value? Even more so when one considers that divorce harms the dignity of the human person, involves a profound injustice in human and social relations and offends God himself, guarantor of the conjugal covenant and the author of life?

Malta, do not forget your Christian heritage!