In an interview with the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti mentioned that in today's society we need to face up to new forms of sin. Several foreign newspapers picked up the cue and, getting the wrong end of the stick, gave the impression that the Catholic Church was putting aside the so-called seven deadly sins and was replacing them with other sins. Obviously this interpretation gave rise to gossip, which is really what these newspapers wanted to achieve. In my opinion, since the Maltese population is predominantly Catholic, the content of this interview should be considered carefully.

I do admit that although our population is predominantly Catholic, we are living in a secular state. But this only means that the Catholic Church has no say whatsoever in the country's legislature, executive and judiciary, even if the Church has every right to speak out on any matter it deems fit, like any other individual or entity.

Moreover, the pronouncements of Archbishop Girotti cannot be taken to mean as the official position of the Church, as the Catholic Church has well defined mechanisms how to determine what is sinful and what is not. On the other hand, it would be wrong not to assess the content of this interview within the current Maltese scenario.

The Maltese economy is going through a growth phase. The indications are that, unless the world economic situation was to severely hamper our economic potential, then this growth phase should continue in the coming years. This does not mean that issues related to social cohesion or issues related to ethics are outside our radar screen.

An economy can thrive in a sustainable way only if it achieves social cohesion concurrently with economic growth, and only if ethical issues are given primary importance. Hence the new forms of sins that we have to face up to are relevant to our economy as well.

Of the seven sins mentioned by Archbishop Girotti, three are not strictly related to the economy. These are the taking of drugs, genetic modification and human experimentations. Even so, we need to ensure that some of the activities based in Malta, be it of a financial nature, be it of a manufacturing nature, are not serving to fund any of these three sinful activities. Then, there are another four that are indeed of major concern to us, namely polluting the environment, social injustice, causing poverty and financial gluttony.

The pollution of the environment has become a key issue in Malta for a number of reasons - the extent of building development taking place, the extent of speculation in the property market, the extent to which leisure places are being eaten up, the extent of damage that is being done to our water reserves, flora and fauna and the extent of the damage that is being done to our historical and cultural heritage.

There is no doubt in my mind that we need to create a balance between environmental, economic and social requirements. However, what we are now being told is that when we tilt the balance against the environment for economic gain, we are acting incorrectly.

Social injustice, causing poverty and financial gluttony can be taken together, as very often one (financial gluttony) causes the other two (poverty and social injustice). Profit is not a dirty word, but the freedom to make a profit from one's economic activity is limited by the responsibility that we have not to cause harm to others.

We can take the example of the speculation that has been taking place in the property market. As banks have made it easier for first-time home buyers to make a loan through a reduction in interest rates and a longer payback period, property speculators immediately seized the initiative and pushed up property prices to a level that is simply not justified and can only be described as unethical.

In the long run, our well-being and quality of life is not dependent only on our economic growth, but also on how that increased wealth is distributed among the population, the respect that we have for the rule of law and the extent to which we act ethically. An economically richer country does not only mean the generation of more wealth, but also the elimination of social injustices and all forms of poverty. This is an axiom that we should keep in mind when discussing the economy.