The Church in Malta pioneered many social initiatives. There were times when, had it not been for certain Church projects, often initiated by courageous Church people who had great trust in divine Providence, many people in very dire circumstances would have had to continue facing much harder times. Indeed, prior to the arrival of state social services, the Church often stood practically alone in helping the destitute.

Accordingly, it must have been very difficult for Mgr Victor Zammit McKeon, director of the diocesan office in charge of children's homes, to announce publicly that three women victims of domestic violence, together with their children, cannot be housed at a Church shelter because another two families, who have completed their therapy, have nowhere else to go.

At the same time, Mgr. Zammit McKeon was stressing a somewhat already known fact; the Archdiocese appears to be facing very difficult times in terms of finances, at least in certain sectors. In fact, among other things, a home for the elderly had closed down, the Archdiocese-funded newspaper in print form has folded - it is now only online, and the Media Centre printing press will close down at the end of January.

Mgr Zammit McKeon rightly pointed out the stark reality that there is now much fewer members of religious orders helping in the day-to-day running of Church institutions than there used to be. In fact, to run her homes properly, the Church has increasingly to rely on employing lay people who, naturally, have to be paid proper wages.

The Church, of her own nature, could not adopt certain market strategies, for instance making people pay in full for services rendered. She has to cater, first and foremost, for the poor. But it is also true that, to be able to do so, the Church needs the necessary funds not only to do the job but also to do it well and according to modern standards and requirements.

Part of the Archdiocese's income depends on funds generated through its investments locally and abroad. However, the Church also depends a lot on the people's financial offerings, as well as voluntary work. Here, it is known that certain Church institutions and social activities, such as Id-Dar tal-Providenza and the various services offered by Caritas, manage to attract much more financial and voluntary work support than other institutions or projects, which, although perhaps less in the limelight, also have their own scope and validity.

The volunteer's action, of course, should not be seen as a "stop-gap" intervention but, rather, as a complementary, always necessary, presence to keep attention to the lowliest alive and to further a personalised style in interventions. Therefore, everyone can be a volunteer worker: even the poorest and most underprivileged person has certainly much to share with others by making his own contribution to building the civilisation of love the Church believes in so much.

Maybe the time has come for the Church to consider ways and means of how to better drive home the message, especially among her members, that there are many possible forms of sharing in what the Church is doing not just for believers but for the common good. This ranges from voluntary work in which one offers one's services with a spontaneity worthy of the Gospel, from generous and even repeated offerings from one's surplus, and sometimes even from what we ourselves need, to offering work to those giving up all hope.