Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1464865
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 APRIL 2022 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt Pope Francis showed leadership, where there is none Last week, you were quoted as saying: "For the Catholic community, the Pope's vis- it should serve as proof that maintaining traditional val- ues does not – and should not – mean remaining trapped in the past." Are you suggest- ing that the Church in Malta is, in fact, still 'trapped in the past'? And if so: do you see Pope Francis himself – wide- ly regarded as progressive, compared to his predecessors - as representing some form of 'renewal' for the Church? First of all, thank you for this interview: not just because it helps me with my own reflec- tions; but also because I'm rec- ognizing that, if we do really need to change anything, as a Church: it is not necessarily the core message [of Christian- ity] itself; but rather, the kind of conversations that we have. For me, 'getting stuck in the past' also means remaining with the mindset that every- one out there 'should be Chris- tian', for instance. And if we stick with that, as our premise: clearly, we would be starting from the wrong place. So yes: in a sense, I feel that Pope Francis is encouraging us to start out from a different premise. First of all, to appre- ciate the reality we're living in; and to approach that reality, for what it actually is… as op- posed to 'what we would like it to be'. Respect for reality is, I be- lieve, the best way to both be yourself, and also to respect the identity of others around you. And I strongly believe that it is also necessary for us to be Christians – by 'us', I'm referring to myself, and the rest of the Christian communi- ty – because it is only through respect for reality, that we can share what we believe is good. We cannot share the Gospel by imposing it on others; but neither can we share it by not recognizing the realities that other people live in. It can only be shared within the context of respect for people who come from different religious back- grounds; or who are question- ing, or searching… And I feel that this new ap- proach will also help us re- discover the core message of Christianity for ourselves. In fact, one of things Pope Francis emphasized was the need to 'go back to the essentials'… rather than preserving all the external paraphernalia of Christianity, without giving any truly mean- ingful message to all those people who are searching, and struggling. This is especially relevant to- day, because – as His Holiness also emphasised – the country itself is facing new historical situations, and challenges. So I think that Pope Francis can give us a vision that will help us shape these new realities… He also gave Catholics quite a 'scolding' too, though, didn't he? During his sermon on the Granaries, for instance, Pope Francis said: "Those who be- lieve they are upholding the faith by pointing their finger at others may have a certain 'religiosity', but they have not embraced the spirit of the Gos- pel". To whom do you think he was actually referring there? The Maltese Catholic Church… or Christians in general? Actually, Pope Francis has been very consistent on that point: not just here in Malta, but in his overall message as a whole. When communicating with us priests, for example: he has consistently insisted that our call is not to be 'Pharisees' – which includes both hypocri- sy, and finger-pointing. But to answer your question more directly: I would say that the core of his message – at that specific moment, on the Granaries - was mainly direct- ed at the Christian people of Malta. It remains, of course, a universal message, which is applicable to Christians every- where. But there were two main moments, during his ser- mon, where Pope Francis ad- dressed the Christian people of Malta directly. It is important, however, to make this distinction between 'the Christian people of Mal- ta'; and the Maltese people as a whole. At other moments– during his address to the civil authorities, for instance; and especially in his encounter with migrants at the Peace Lab – his message was clearly directed on a much wider level. But on the Granaries - and also at Ta' Pinu - Pope Francis was talking specifically to the local Christian community. As to whether he 'scolded' us or not, however; I see it more as Pope Francis warning us about a risk that is already there… and that exists everywhere else, in the Christian world. The risk is basically that, instead of sharing the Good News, we approach others with an air of superiority; or with a level of confidence that is 'self-referential'… rather than pointing towards God's mer- cy: which is, after all, the core message of Jesus Christ. On his visit to Malta, Pope Francis did not hold back from some stinging criticism: especially concerning 'corruption', 'environmental degradation', and 'hypocrisy'. According to Fr JIMMY BONNICI - Rector of the Archbishop's Seminary in Rabat – that is precisely the sort of leadership the country needs