Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/627675
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 JANUARY 2016 15 "They may even be non-practis- ing, but they find it hard to un- derstand how the church can, for example, deny them the baptism of their child or a church marriage. From our ivory towers we may pon- tificate on the lives of people and demand consistency, ac-ceptance of doctrine and of the moral rules, and so on. But many people con- tinue to see it differently…" At this point, yet another divi- sion swims into view. Camilleri points out how a non-believer or non-practitioner has no reason to feel excluded from the Church… or why the Church should shut its doors to them. "I have my life and I live it," Camilleri continues, as if quot- ing an imaginary lapsed Catholic. "But if it dawns on me to come to church for a funeral of my friend, and I feel like receiving the Eucha- rist… no one should hinder that. For me, this is the turn-ing-point that Pope Francis represents now for the church. He seems no long- er to be there as Pope to safeguard doctrine, but to safeguard mainly the freedom and dignity of people to decide on their own. In all this the role of the church is not seen mainly as that of teaching and guarding right doctrine, but of be- ing there to accompany people in their own journeys." This brings us to the other issue facing the 21st century Maltese Church. It is a period of transition, characterised by a new(ish) Arch- bishop who differs from his prede- ces-sors in a number of respects. Mgr Scicluna has been con- spicuously more outspoken on a number of issues – the en-viron- ment, social exclusion, rights of the disabled, rights of employers, to name a few... and while this has been welcomed by some as a move to make the Church more relevant, it has also clearly irritated others. The latest example concerns Mgr Scicluna's comments regarding the Prime Minister's televised New Year message, which some inter- preted as an unnecessary political comment. Does this outspoken- ness reflect a conscious strategy on the part of the Church to rebuild its identity/image? If so, would there be any justification to the ar- gument (already expressed all over the social media) that the Church intends to regain relevance by ven- turing into political issues? "I think the church's strategy to- day should not, in the first place, be to regain rele-vance or to win back those who left or are leaving. The church is not an institution that has a message which needs to be communicated. The church is in the first place the gathering in community of those who believe in Jesus Christ, and it is from the way of living of those who belong that the truth of the message should transpire. "Claims of truth by an institution, even the church, are not automati- cally credible be-cause they come from those who hold office, and who claim to have been commis- sioned by Christ himself. What makes the message true, and the Gospel credible, is the way it con- cretises in people's lives. "I think it's high time we speak not just of leadership 'in' the church – referring to those who hold office and who govern the community – but leadership 'of' the church. Our society and culture may simply ig- nore those who speak from pulpits and yet give credit to those who speak with moral authority. The church is silent not when its bish- ops do not speak out on the issues that mark the country's agenda, but when people in general, partic- ularly those who belong to the faith community and regularly partici- pate in its liturgy, are mute to what is happening around them. "Bishops can speak out and yet remain alone. Our political par- ties still play small poli-tics and the church cannot afford to play that game. Not remaining silent does not mean that the church always has something to say. Wisdom is first and foremost need-ed to dis- cern when to speak, and when not to." On the subject of church lead- ership, Mgr Scicluna recently ac- knowledged that the Church in Malta must resign itself to its 'rel- egation' to the level of one insti- tution among many. At the same time, however, the Church has so far been vocal in oppos-ing em- bryo freezing... a health-related legislative issue that will affect all the popula-tion, not just Catholics. Isn't there a contradiction here? If the Church's voice is no more authoritative than anyone else's, why should it expect to influence national legis-lation more than others? "The fact that the church speaks out on issues she considers crucial for the moral fibre of our people and of society in general does not mean that the church is imposing its beliefs on the country or on our politicians. The church makes its position known, but she cannot go further than that. It is the politi- cians that legislate and govern the coun-try. "Voicing the concerns of many who have no voice cannot be con- sidered undue pres-sure. What has radically changed today, however, is the fact that there is no longer any identification between the country and the church, between being a Maltese and being a Catho- lic. It would be unwise in this day and age for the church to envy the time when it wielded power on society and the State. The church instead is wise if it strug-gles inter- nally, first and foremost, to redis- cover the joy of the gospel and to start evan-gelising itself long be- fore it dares to speak of rebuilding its identity or regaining credi-bility in society." Interview Caught between mystic visionaries and an increasingly secular society, the Church seems to be having difficulty getting its message across. But Rev. Prof. RENE CAMILLERI argues that inner struggles are necessary for a healthy Church bells toll PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD ?