After days of silence to mark the death of Jesus Christ, Church bells will ring joyously this morning, urging parishioners to join in the celebrations to mark the resurrection.

Thousands will heed the call, attending processions and packing churches to mark the most important feast on the liturgical calendar and of Christian life.

The festive mood will serve as the icing that glazes over the Church’s cracks, in particular falling Mass attendance.

Mgr Charles Scicluna, who urged, “Let us not be afraid to be who we are.”

Just two weeks ago, Archbishop Charles Scicluna informally estimated that just 40 per cent of Maltese still got to church on Sunday, a 10 per cent drop over the last recorded Mass attendances in 2006.

However, these celebratory traditions serve as a balm to lure people back – be they practising Catholics or non-believers. But is the proliferation of crowds down to devotion or has this religious tradition simply become a social outing?

Anthropologist Mark-Anthony Falzon believes that devotion and spectacle are not necessarily opposed and the influence of theatre in religious events has been evident for centuries.

Good Friday and Easter Sunday inspire a strong sense of ritual and spectacle that are an intrinsic part of the religious experience.

“I think people are unavoidably deeply spiritual, but spirituality should not be equated with renouncing the world that embraces colour, experiences and food,” Prof. Falzon said.

And although secularism seems to be eating away at the island’s deep-seated attachment to Catholicism, the Archbishop is confident the Holy Week processions remain an expression of authentic religious piety and devotion.

“Like everything human, they are not immune from humanity’s lows – narcissism or exhibitionism – but all in all they remain a moving expression of humanity’s greatness in art, music, pageantry and religious expression,” he said.

Traditions, he said, should not be condemned, but refreshed. Mgr Scicluna thanked the hundreds of Maltese and Gozitans, who through their voluntary contribution and active participation, made Holy Week “a moving witness to the Gospel message of merciful love and redemption, sacrificial death and joyous resurrection”.

Fr John Avellino, a philosophy lecturer based at the Vittoriosa parish, said although he was sceptical about the exact intentions of those who took part in the processions, the sense of enthusiasm and spirituality still radiated.

The parish retained strong roots of family and devotion and he was encouraged by the number of young people who attended the parish’s four days of adoration.

But once the festive bell-ringing peters out, the Church will have to carry out an internal examination to see how it can preserve the Easter spirit throughout the year.

“My message is one of hope and encouragement to my flock. Let us not be afraid to be who we are – Christians,” the Archbishop urged.