Archbishop Mgr Joseph Mercieca offered his resignation from the post in November 2003. Canon Law stipulates that all bishops, upon reaching 75 years of age, must tender their resignation. It is then up to the Pope to decide whether to accept it or not and, if he does, a new bishop is appointed.

Two years and five months later, Mgr Mercieca still occupies the highest position in the Maltese Church. And, although over these 29 months there has been speculation as to who will be replacing him, there is no final outcome as yet.

Many names have been mentioned as potential successors to Mgr Mercieca, and it is not our intention to go into this matter. What is perhaps more important now is not who will replace Mgr Mercieca, but what kind of bishop Malta needs in this day and age.

Last Saturday, the Church newspaper Il-Gens focused on this point, arguing that “it is unfortunate that we are speculating on people, complaining of lack of consultation and other hypotheses, and giving little importance within the diocese on the importance of what kind of bishop the Maltese Church needs in this moment of history”.

This is a valid point indeed and, in fact, the same newspaper took the matter in hand itself and

interviewed a number of public figures on the issue. It did not ask them for names, but invited comments as to what kind of bishop Malta needs at this point in time.

Most of them replied that he should be a person who is capable of using the media and who remains close to the people, and this matter was, in fact, highlighted in the headline of the newspaper’s front-page story.

Other comments made were that a new bishop needs to unite the Church with modern times, he must be ready to defend poor people, he must go to public places and meet people and must know about the reality of today.

But in the majority of cases, the personalities interviewed mentioned the ability to communicate – and we would say that the media must be used and used well – and the ability to be close to the people, to get to know what their problems are and be a charismatic leader who attracts people to the Church. Some mentioned the new Gozo Bishop, Mgr Mario Grech, as an example.

Going one step further, in its editorial Il-Gens said that “the time is ripe for pastoral operators not to fall in the apathy of silence but express the characteristics that they feel are needed in the new bishop”. It added that the choice of bishop is not only administrative, political or managerial, but also spiritual.

The Church newspaper is correct. Rather than speculating over the names of priests who could take over from Mgr Mercieca as the new Archbishop, it would be better to concentrate on what kind of bishop Malta needs now, and then choose the person with these characteristics.

The Church today is not the Church of 30 years ago, when Mgr Mercieca took over from the late Archbishop Mgr Michael Gonzi. Society has moved on and the Church no longer plays the dominant role it exercised in the 1960s and 1970s. Its

position has changed and therefore it would be most appropriate for the new bishop to fit in as head of the Maltese Church as it is today, within the

society we have today.

Most of all, the new bishop must make more and better use of the media, the role of which has grown rapidly over in recent years. Communication is part and parcel of today’s way of life, and must be used properly, to be as close to the people as possible.

It is also agreed that the new bishop must be a person who has a better understanding of the problems faced by people in their everyday lives.