Ingram Bondin writes:

I was devastated to hear that Ramon Casha, chairman of the Malta Humanist Association (MHA), passed away on January 22. I felt it would be fitting to write a few words to honour the memory of this brave and altruistic man.

I will always remember Ramon as a secularist who believed wholeheartedly in the separation of Church and State. As a humanist he put his confidence in reason and always sought to challenge religious dogma, especially when this had an unfavourable effect on people through no fault of their own.

Ramon co-founded the MHA in 2010 partly because the influence of the Catholic Church on public institutions had become suffocating in many respects. Before this association was founded, many secularists had been isolated, and this isolation brought with it a feeling of discouragement. Few believed at the time that these public institutions could ever be reformed. The MHA provided a forum for these people to meet and share their thoughts and aspirations.

These early efforts by the MHA co-existed with other movements challenging confessionalism, such as the gay rights movement, the movement to abolish artistic censorship and the movement for guaranteeing the freedom of belief to leave the Catholic Church. Having been a member of the latter two, I wish to say that I am grateful to Ramon and his colleagues for the support and solidarity they have always shown us.

The divorce referendum campaign, in which the MHA was actively involved, broke the back of confessionalism and threw conservatism into a disarray from which it is still struggling to recover. It is hard to understand how difficult the situation had been before this event and how this opened the floodgates to reform.

Ramon was a vocal supporter of every liberal reform that followed. One could mention his support for civil unions and gender identity rights, the removal of religious vilification laws, the ban on gay conversion therapy, and the introduction of the morning-after pill. But his concerns went further than civil rights. He also campaigned to end spring hunting, and most recently took part in the campaign to end proverty.

What I have always admired the most in Ramon were his uncompromising beliefs, even when this meant struggling in solitude against an ocean of hypocrisy, fanaticism and the bad faith shown by many of his opponents.

If I may strike a somewhat sad note, I feel that there were occasions during which he deserved the support of many other level-headed people who, while sympathetic, thought it better to skirt controversial issues so as not to compromise themselves.

I wish to end by wishing farewell to a good and selfless man who was ahead of his time on many questions. His passion and informed contributions to public debate will be sorely missed, especially during a period when the worst darkness this benighted island has to offer is once again rearing its ugly head.