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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 JANuArY 2016 3 News 'Muscat shouldn't have put on an act in a kitchen' – Archbishop Charles Scicluna says Church must 'adapt to its relegation to second division', insists Muslims should be allowed to pray in public outside Msida parish church TiM DiAcono Archbishop charles scicluna contributed his two cents worth to the controversy surrounding the prime Minister's New Year's video message, insisting that Joseph Muscat "should not have to put on an act". "The next time he visits people in their kitchen, i hope it will be for real," scicluna said on Mon- day night's edition of the current affairs programme 'reporter, when asked for his opinion on Muscat. The much-maligned video fea- tured the prime Minister in the kitchen of a young couple, who claim to have benefitted from the Labour government's tax exemp- tion scheme for first-time home buyers. however, it was later revealed that the young man is actually the son of the owner of well-known furniture company construct Furniture, and that he had purchased his house with his wife back in 2008. "There is simply no need for the prime Minister to put on an act," scicluna said. on an upside note, he said that he admires Muscat's ability to address the public and that he is willing to work in tandem with his government in "a spirit of collaboration and loyalty". When asked about opposition leader simon busuttil's public attempts to distance his party from the church, scicluna said that the pN leader is simply adapting to the current political climate. "he must adapt his policies according to the context of the world we live in, just as i have to lead the church in the same context," he said. "however, the pN can maintain a credible voice without getting rid of its cultural patrimony." Church 'relegated to the second division' scicluna admitted that the church has lost the po- litical power it had once held in abundance, and warned against nostal- gic yearnings for its in- stitutional past. "if there was one thing i learnt during my 17 years working in the Vatican, it's that i live in a world in which the church has been relegated to the second division and that this isn't the end of the world," he said. "in the secular and pluralistic world we live in, the church cannot call all the shots, and its voice is just one among many. "it's the reality we live in and i have no intention of fighting it. My challenge is to ensure that Jesus's teachings are relevant – not rendered attractive by the church's authority but because of their content as testimony to God." When asked by host saviour balzan whether he considers the rapid legislation of non-cath- olic practices as a failure of the church, the Archbishop replied in the negative. "Even if the state ends up leg- islating everything that is anti- christian and anti-catholic, my task will be to examine my own conscience and ask myself whether i did my duty or not," he said. "i won't tear my hair out if the state doesn't legislate ac- cording to the church's teach- ings – that would just be wasted energy and nostalgia to when the church used to impose its will on the state." When questioned about cath- olics turning to atheism in their droves, scicluna harkened back to the Gospels, where Jesus had said that "sheep will get lost along the way". "it worries me when people lose faith in God due to shortcom- ings from the church's part," he admitted. "Ultimately, what is most important is for people to meet Jesus christ. i recently met people who had been scandalised and angry with the institution- alised church, but who discov- ered Jesus while on a pilgrimage. once people find Jesus and ex- perience true faith as protago- nists, they usually realise that they fundamentally need the church and look at it in a new light." 'Angelik Caruana a gross caricature of faith' The curia last week decreed that self-styled mystic Angelik caruana's alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary at borg in-Na- dur are not divine in origin. "As Archbishop, it is my duty to protect my people from gross caricatures of faith," he said, while encouraging people to showcase their devotion to the Virgin Mary and the Eucha- rist through the official church channels. "The church is clear in that fol- lowers aren't obliged to believe in private apparitions, even those that are proved legitimate." 'Clergy paedophilia not linked to celibacy' scicluna vehemently denied that the phenomenon of paedo- philia among catholic priests is in any way linked to their vows of chastity. "statistics show us that 60% of child abusers are family mem- bers," he said. "celibacy can lead to [sexual] frustration, but the rate of child abuse among celi- bate clerics is identical to that among married ones. "indeed, the culture of celibacy exists to train priests to respect certain boundaries." calling on victims of clerical sex abuse to speak up, he in- sisted that the church has the "necessary structures to respond adequately and immediately" to such cases. 'Muslims should be allowed to pray in Msida' The Archbishop defended the Maltese Muslim community, who have in recent days been criticised for organising outdoor prayer sessions outside Msida parish church. "i recently received an e-mail of complaint about those prayer sessions, and my response was that Malta guarantees freedom of religion, a blessing that cath- olics should share with all other religions. "Malta's islamic community is increasing, and i hope that we can live side by side, respecting each other and respecting the democratic principles enshrined in the constitution." Father, two sons charged with theft of €150,000 worth of interconnector cables MAT Thew Agius A father and his two sons have been granted bail after they de- nied stealing €150,000 worth of electricity cables from the interconnector. police inspectors saviour baldacchino and spiridione Zammit arraigned 44-year-old Ghaxaq resident Keith Joseph Mallia and his two sons, aged 17 and 16, before Magistrate Audrey Demicoli yesterday. The three were charged with a string of thefts from the Ms- ida, Maghtab and st Andrew's interconnector access points in october last year. in addition, the trio were charged with robbing a food processing facility in Marsa no fewer than three times in the last three months of 2015, with a fourth attempt being thwart- ed and the men arrested by the police. Keith Joseph Mallia has been in and out of the courts over the past 17 years, on a variety of criminal charges. The men were also charged with recidi- vism in view of their previous convictions. Mallia's eldest son alone was additionally charged with breaching a probation or- der. The father was also charged with failing to observe previ- ous bail conditions, and com- mitting a crime during the operative period of two sus- pended sentences. Magistrate Demicoli granted the men bail against an indi- vidual €2,500 personal guar- antee. The father was addition- ally required to deposit €500 in court. Law yers Veronique Dalli and Dean hili were defence coun- sel to the men. Law yer Arthur Azzopardi appeared on behalf of Tenderfresh Ltd of Marsa. Two hostages freed in Libya, sent to Malta AN Austrian and a serb who have been held in Libya since March were released yesterday and are now in Malta. The two men – Austrian national Alexander haas and serbian babic radoslav srja – worked for Argus security company in Libya. in a statement, the Maltese gov- ernment said the two men were released following work between the Maltese, Libyan, Austrian and serbian authorities and security services. Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann and serbian prime Min- ister Aleksandar Vučić were kept abreast of the developments by Maltese prime Minister Joseph Muscat. The statement added that the situation was discussed between the Maltese and serbian prime Ministers during a meeting they had in belgrade on saturday. it is understood that Maltese authorities played a role in the re- lease of the two hostages and the trip to Malta was one of the condi- tions set in the negotiations. Archbishop Charles Scicluna