Better management of feast celebrations would only occur through self regulation, the national association for enthusiasts said yesterday.
The Għaqda Nazzjonali Armar tal-Festi fit-Toroq, formed earlier this month, presented its counter proposals to the Curia's consultation document on feasts during a news conference yesterday.
The association said if the Archdiocese felt the need for an improvement in the celebration of feasts, it should make informal recommendations to be adopted by mutual consent.
"The ecclesiastical authorities need to understand that the implementation of general measures to fit each and every feast is impossible because they all have different characteristics. What they can do instead is develop a set of guiding principles," association president Godfrey Farrugia said.
The association said the cost of festivities was paid by "the people for the people" so the Church should respect their wishes.
"The ecclesiastical authorities are entering into areas that are not their concern because they fall under the competencies of civil authorities," the association said, adding that the Curia's proposals, if implemented, would punish everyone for abuse by the few.
The document by the Church lists a range of proposals on the celebration of village feasts with the aim of restoring the religious and community aspects of the festivities.
Some of the proposals target feast decorations. They include the banning of decorations known as sorpriżi (surprises) because they instil rivalry, the limitation of decorations during band marches to only flags and balloons, the control of Church decorations and damask to reduce pique, and an inventory of decorations to be drawn up in each parish before 2012, with no further additions allowed as of the following year.
The feast enthusiasts said the tone set in the Archdiocese's document was "authoritarian, including threats of blackmail". The Church had said it would withdraw from the celebrations if practices are not followed.
"It would be ironic if the Church were to do this. It is stressing the religious aspect of festivities, but its withdrawal would effectively eliminate the religious element," the counterproposals read.
The document presented by the Church had only served to create division between feast enthusiasts and the clergy, Dr Farrugia said, while emphasising that the association was not adopting a confrontational attitude.
The feast enthusiasts proposed a workshop that would lead to an internal analysis of each feast celebrated in Malta, where those involved in the discussions would recommend solutions to be adopted.
The Church's proposals are open to consultation until tomorrow.