Politicians and political parties should not hide behind a referendum on divorce and should present the public with their clear stand, according to Jesuit provincial and moral theology expert Fr Paul Pace.

Together with a number of theologians, he was asked to react to The Sunday Times’ survey which showed 58 per cent of people support the holding of a referendum to decide whether to introduce divorce in the country.

Prime Minister Lawerence Gonzi, whose Nationalist Party has kicked off an internal debate on divorce, has said he would like the people to decide but has not specified whether he sees that decision being made in a referendum or via a general election. The Labour Party has not come out with a clear stand on divorce, with its leader Joseph Muscat, who is in favour, saying he would present a Private Members’ Bill and let MPs have a free vote. Meanwhile, Alternattiva Demokratika, the Green Party, has long pronounced itself clearly in favour.

The survey also found that 45 per cent of the Maltese would vote against divorce, 40 per cent would vote in favour and 14 per cent had not yet made up their minds.

Meanwhile, 75 per cent of respondents said this was a matter of conscience and only 20 per cent said the Church’s instructions had determined their position.

Fr Pace said the survey struck him because it showed there was a clear “relative majority” against divorce. Before the survey he was not so confident that this majority, which was evident in surveys a number of years ago, had continued to prevail, albeit to a lesser extent.

He added that the survey painted a realistic picture overall and showed that opposition towards divorce was not something exclusive to the elderly.

However, he did not agree with the majority of the respondents – that divorce should be decided by a referendum.

“It is difficult to isolate an issue like divorce in a referendum. I think the political parties should take a clear position, they cannot just relieve themselves of this decision by passing it on for a referendum,” he said, pointing out that referenda were not always the best ways of taking such a decision.

“For instance, I wouldn’t be very happy with a referendum to decide on how to treat immigrants.”

Meanwhile, Fr Emmanuel Agius, dean of the University’s Theology Faculty, said it was not easy to determine what people meant when they said they were influenced by their own consciences.

He said it was important for Catholics to take into consideration the Church’s instructions but they also had a responsibility to form their consciences by listening to the “experienced” Church, as well as any scientific statistics that could back their arguments.

Fr Agius said Christians should always seek the common good and the stability of the family while not ignoring the situation of unstable families.

He said it was up to politicians to choose whether this was decided through a referendum but it was in their interest to seek some form of mandate.

“I don’t think a political party without a mandate can decide on this issue without the people’s input from a referendum or a general election. This is so important it should not be decided just by the parliamentary group.”

Asked if the Church should campaign against divorce more strongly he said: “This is not the time for crusades. The Church has a right to participate in the debate and it is an important stakeholder. It should not impose but has a right to make its voice heard.”

The editor of the Church’s e-newspaper il-Ġens, Fr John Avellino, said the survey reflected the current trend where individuals, even practising Catholics, were convinced they should be guided by “their own ethical norms and principles – what we call ethical relativism”.

He said the Church was not giving instructions but reiterating “the command of the Lord”.

“The Church has no intention of putting pressure on people’s consciences to keep control over life in Malta, as some keep accusing it of doing. This is absurd,” he said.

“On the contrary the Church’s mission is to form consciences enlightened by the Gospel truth. We have a moral duty to preach and teach the doctrine of the Church regarding marriage, which takes its inspiration from the Gospel truth.”

Meanwhile, another theology expert from the University, Fr George Grima, said those who indicated conscience as their guiding principle were not necessarily saying they did not seriously consider the Church’s teaching.

“Like any other person, the Catholic has a right to follow one’s own conscience. In fact, the Church teaches that one is morally bound to act in accordance with one’s own conscience,” he said, adding that the teaching was meant to “enlighten and guide” people’s judgments.

He said that this, however, did not mean people underestimated the influence of the Church on their conscience.

Fr Grima added that referenda did not exonerate politicians from taking personal responsibility but simply gave an indication of the will of the electorate.

“But morality goes beyond the views of the majority, in particular on matters such as divorce.”

The Curia has not yet responded to questions sent by The Times about the survey.