President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca last Saturday made a bold - and very truthful - statement in her speech on Republic Day.
She said that Malta has moved on since it was declared a Republic 40 years ago, and that Catholic religion is no longer central to cultural activities.
Strangely ignored in the report on PBS that day, this statement is a valid representation of the society we live in today. Although we all know it that Catholicism is not embraced as it was 40 years ago, and probably not even as it was 10 years ago, that such a statement is made by the Head of State is unprecedented.
One cannot imagine staunch Catholics like Eddie Fenech Adami or George Abela making such a declaration when they held the highest office in the land. And yet, in her first address as President of the Republic on what is, on the whole, the feast day of the presidency, the more secular Marie Louise Coleiro Preca felt it her duty to highlight this important change in the society we live in today.
Of course, the Church maintains its strong presence and importance in the Malta of the 21st century, but it must be admitted that its influence has declined over the years. With fewer and fewer people going to Church and with fewer priests running our parishes, it has become a great struggle for the Church to pass on its message.
Its "defeat" in the divorce referendum, as well as scandals involving priests and their sexual behaviour, including with children, have not helped. That the country is now also without an archbishop after the resignation of Mgr Paul Cremona from the post is also evidence of the difficulties the Church is facing.
The President's statement carried more weight. Her suggestion that "we should be questioning what is a secular process and religious diversity, and how to act in this context", should prompt the country's thinkers (where are they?) to stoke the fire that has been started by Dr Coleiro Preca. Even political leaders should not put it aside mostly because this is the reality we are living in today, and whether they like it or not, it is affecting all generations.
Otherwise, we run the risk that the President's recommendation falls by the wayside without it being analysed and discussed, only to face the consequences when the fast changes that we are experiencing overwhelm us and it would be too late to make any corrections.