Fr Joseph Borg comments on this recent speech of the Pope in favour of the process of European integration and the Pope's "mistranslated" comments before he left Poland. While answering last Sunday's criticism of Dr Joe Brincat, Fr Borg says that there should be no place for a religious controversy as part of the debate about Malta's accession to the EU.
Last Sunday Dr Joe Brincat and Lino Cassar took me to task for my use of a quotation taken from the first official translation of the Pope's farewell speech in Poland. Let's for the moment accept that they are correct.
Since they said nothing about the rest of the article "Is the Pope pro-abortion?" (The Sunday Times, September 1), I assume that they have no problem with the other four quotations which are by far stronger. So the result is four for me and one for them! Not a bad result indeed! But I do not even concede them that solitary goal.
In the light of several quotations from speeches by the Pope I concluded that the Pope is "a constant supporter of the process of European enlargement". (I do not know why Dr Brincat chose to misquote my words; but more on that later.)
Wasn't it the Pope who in May 2001 together with the Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos said: "We rejoice at the success and progress of the EU... We are called to intensify our efforts so that the unification of Europe may be accomplished."
How should I describe someone who rejoices at the success of the EU and feels he has a vocation ("we are called") to work for its enlargement? Is he a supporter or an opponent?
Since my article was published, the Pope made two other important pronouncements on the subject.
The September 2 report by Zenit, the Rome-based Catholic news agency, of the Pope's meeting with Christos Botzios, the new ambassador of Greece to the Vatican said:
"John Paul II also expressed his support for the extension of the European Union to include, in particular, the Balkan countries.
"According to John Paul II, the 'progressive acceptance' of all the European countries in the Union 'will consolidate a culture of peace and solidarity, one of the strong points of the European plan'."
As far as I could check, this is the first time that the Pope referred to the "progressive acceptance" in the EU of "all European countries" (my italics).
Then on September 5, according to the report of the Vatican Information Service, the Pope met the new ambassador of the Slovenia, Ludvik Toplak. "In his speech, the Pope manifested the Holy See's appreciation for Slovenia's actions in favour of peace and collaboration among nations and for the effort it has made to enter the European Union officially ('a pieno titolo')."
The situation before my article of September 1 was that the Pope had spoken in favour of the process of enlargement, the accession of Poland and of Bulgaria. Now the Pope has spoken positively about "all European nations in the Union".
In my article, I quoted from the official Vatican translation which made a reference to the European Union. After the article was published a friend informed me that a later official version changed the word "Union" to "Community".
Dr Brincat and Mr Cassar try to make a mountain out of this molehill. Can this changed terminology eliminate all the positive remarks made about EU enlargement before and after the Polish visit? Has the Pope changed his mind on the subject?
His statements indicate otherwise. The most one can conclude is that, considering the controversy that is raging in Poland, the Pope decided to be more generic this time round.
I submit that the change is not a substantial one and I say why. The Pope's farewell speech is reproduced in the Polish original and in six other languages on the Vatican's Website. The Spanish translation on this Website till today (Tuesday) still refers to the EU.
Four of the other versions do not refer to the "European community" but to the "European Community" (Note the use of capital letters.) Dr Brincat, a reputed lawyer, would immediately pick the difference between these two phrases. We have now a proper noun. Is this a generic reference to some utopistic community or is this a reference to a concrete community?
Let me help him answer that question.
It is interesting to note that the Bishops of the member states refer to their association as the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Community! Their Website is http://comece.org.
Moreover, the Pope himself, when addressing the Polish Ambassador Hanna Suchocka (December 3, 2001) in the same paragraph used the terms "European Union" and "European Community" in an interchangeable way.
"The Church would also like to be present in the process of Poland's preparation for full entry into the European Union. It is right for Poland to aspire to the place it is due in the political and economic contexts of united Europe's structures.
"However, she should be present as a State that has its own spiritual and cultural features... In becoming a member of the European Community, the Republic of Poland cannot lose any of its material and spiritual wealth which our ancestors defended at the price of their blood." (www.vatican.va/holy-father/john-paul-ii/speeches/2001/december/documents/hf-ii-spe-20011203-ambassador-poland-en)
Does the Pope's constant support for the process of European enlargement and his expressed support for several countries to join the EU mean that Maltese Catholics should vote in favour of Malta's accession? Not necessarily.
Good Catholics can be in favour and good Catholics can be against since this is not a matter that negatively effects faith, morals or human rights. As I stated in my article (The Sunday Times, May 28, 2000) the Bishops are right in refusing to tell the people how they should vote. Pastoral reasons indicate that it would be suicidal to do that; though the Church cannot be absent (and in fact it is not absent) from the debate.
In my article I never gave an opinion in favour or against Malta's accession. Everyone should decide according to their conscience, enlightened by the facts. I write to persuade Euro-sceptics that their scaremongering campaign which says that accession to the EU endangers our values and souls is not based on facts. I write to persuade Euro-sceptics to stop capriciously introducing pseudo-religious arguments in the debate. Let's eliminate the religious arguments from the debate and base it, as it should be, on political and economical arguments.
Unfortunately Dr Brincat, misquoted and misrepresented my arguments. He wrote: "The Pope according to Fr Borg... is a staunch supporter of the EU, come what may." I never wrote those words. I wrote that the Pope is "a constant supporter of the process of European enlargement" (in the introductory blurb there was "enthusiastic"). I never wrote "come what may."
On the contrary I referred to instances where the Pope criticised decisions or processes happening in the EU. Even during the speeches to the Greek and Slovenian ambassadors the Pope once more aired his preoccupations at the attempt to lessen the importance of Christianity.
But while the Pope criticises where he feels the need, he keeps on supporting the process of enlargement as it is intrinsically positive. I hope that all the three Maltese members of the European Convention take up the Pope's appeal and strongly lobby the members of the Convention on this point.
Last time I concluded with a quotation from the head of the Polish episcopacy. Today I will conclude with two quotations from declarations of the Maltese Bishops.
On December 5, 2001, our Bishops wrote: "For the Catholic Church, as the Pope himself said, the enlargement of the EU... is a historical calling and one should do everything to make it succeed."
On December 22, 1999, the Maltese bishops made theirs the appeal that was launched by the European bishops at the conclusion of their synod.
"The Bishops (of Europe) exhorted those who have specific responsibilities in the institutional, political and cultural spheres to pursue, with courage and urgency, the process of European integration, increasing the number of member countries of the European Union, while appreciating with wisdom the historical and cultural differences of the nations, safeguarding the wholeness and unity of values which characterise Europe in a human and cultural sense."