Typical of his character, the Bishop of Gozo has come out strongly against the proliferating numbers of men who dress up as Roman soldiers during the Good Friday processions.

He also criticized the expenditure on expensive clothes for the same processions.

It is very true that generally speaking the number of men parading as Roman soldiers, centurions etc, some even on horseback, has greatly increased over the past years so much so that certain Good Friday processions have come to resemble a set from Ben Hur.

In our opinion, it’s all good, clean fun and the church should avoid going for over-regulation. Most probably, the increase in Roman soldiers in many parishes has been accepted by the parish priests in question so probably the bishop should address his concerns there.

We are not saying that the act of dressing up as a Roman soldier is an act of penance for sins committed. On the contrary, the way these soldiers walk and parade is done with a certain swagger, just like the Romans used to do, after all. There is also a big difference between this parade of glittering armour and the old-time tradition of men carrying huge crosses or with bare feet or with feet dragging chains. Now that was, or is, real Good Friday penance. In fact, in some places, the men carrying a heavy cross hide their faces with hoods so that they cannot be recognised.

But anyway we do not see any harm in men donning a Roman soldier’s armour. What we really and fundamentally object to is what happens in Spain, for example, where real soldiers, carrying real arms, not swords made of tin, goose-step (reminiscent of Nazi Germany) and carry a figure of Christ lying on the cross while singing a haunting song. This can be seen everywhere on Facebook and this mélange of Catholicism and the armed forces sends shivers down backs. We have not heard of bishops in Spain or elsewhere condemning this tradition.

Nor have we heard of bishops condemning the practice still taking place in the Philippines of people getting crucified on a real cross with real wounds.

Compared to these examples, the Maltese tradition of men dressed up as Roman soldiers is very tame.

Having said all this, we still feel that Mgr Mario Grech expressed some real concerns in his interview with The Times, as against his Maltese counterpart who saw fit to retweet a political comment on that holy day.