Many Maltese Catholics have an outdated model of the Church and of its relationship to society. Many live in a past which no longer exists.

Are these harsh words? Is this a fair or unfair assessment? Do you agree or strongly disagree? Are these the words of someone who wants to paint the Church in dark colours?

These are not, in fact, my words. I am only paraphrasing what Archbishop Paul Cremona said last Wednesday when he addressed the Synod of Bishops which is currently being held in Rome on the theme 'The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church'.

During the first part of the synod each bishop has five minutes to address the general assembly. They have to be well-prepared and concise. Every word counts. Mgr Cremona must have chosen his words with great attention. They were not an off-the-cuff answer to a journalist's question which could perhaps have been expressed differently in a more polished manner.

The Archbishop also referred to this outdated model of many Maltese Catholics as "a stumbling block" for the programme of new evangelisation. Read his works carefully: "Many of our faithful still live in nostalgia of, and compare the present situation to, the model of the Church that was present 30 to 40 years ago. Since the Catholic Church has not remained in a privileged position as it was then, they live in an atmosphere of shock when the Church, or its pastors, are challenged. Many times they stand in fear of speaking openly before this, many times, hostile culture."

But Mgr Cremona is not deterred. His analysis does not lead to a paralysis. It is the springboard for action. He outlined it clearly: "We need to go out of this traumatic experience to enter into a new evangelisation. We have to help the faithful recognise that that kind of Church does not exist anymore, and it cannot be proposed again in this changed world. We cannot continue comparing our reality to that reality."

The Archbishop then follows this sense of deep realism with a clear and precise vision for the future of the Church in Malta: "We have to propose a new model of being Church, and the model which corresponds most to today's reality is the primitive Christian community as it is described in chapters two and four of the Acts of the Apostles, and brought to life in the other writings of the New Testament. We have to compare the Church today to, and shape it on, that community."

Out with nostalgia; in with a forward-looking attitude. Let's not waste time crying over a past which is mythically described as positive. The future is beautiful as it presents more meeting points with the Lord through our neighbours. The Church does not only have a past. It also has a future.