Lou Bondi showers Mgr Mercieca with attributes such as “sharp, correct and magnanimous”. I humbly beg to differ. In my opinion, Mgr Mercieca has proved time and time again that he is simply a politician dressed in priestly robes – he had to be to outlive the Mintoff era. Nonetheless, like all politicians he has served his time and is now old, jaded and past his sell-by date.

Mr Bondi also states that the church is being ignored to an increasingly larger extent and its biggest enemy today is indifference. He argues that there isn’t much that can be done about it. Actually, he is quite wrong. What the local church has done is infiltrate the current political party in government. Some legislation passed by this government had the specific aim of keeping the Church from fading into further insignificance. Legislation included the infamous Family Act whereby the government sold the citizens’ rights to the Church’s ecclesiastical tribunal.

Furthermore, issues such as the right to divorce are being kept off the agenda solely because of the Church’s political manoeuvring. The government’s recent shift to a Catholic fundamentalist stance is more proof that the Church has actually been active in its bid to survive and dominate.

However, people’s indifference to the Church only proves that this charade will not go on for much longer. Eventually, indifference shifts to alienation and at this rate will become another reason why things must change including the current government and the Church.

John Zammit

ZEBBUG