From Mr G. Leone Ganado

I refer to Noel Grima’s article “Pro-church discrimination feared in coming changes at the Law Courts” (TMIS, 6 August).

I must say that I am very concerned that Mr Grima opted to use the words “pro-church” to convey a message the substance of which has, in my opinion, nothing to do with the Church.

I believe that the attributes of a person whose office is to see that justice is not only done but is seen to be done, are those of independence, honesty, integrity and a sound formation in the practice of moral values 24 hours round the clock.

In my opinion, we need, more than ever, people in the political, economic and social world who are prepared to stand up for the safeguarding of the traditional family, who are prepared to use their economic skills to generate wealth for the common good, who know the meaning of and how to practice the virtue of temperance and the value of sobriety, and who know how to stand for justice in the interest of sustaining a healthy society.

In this respect, I must say that I personally know individuals who do not fall within Mr Grima’s “pro-church” perception but who just the same embrace honourably the above attributes and are to be found in the forefront in witnessing to these attributes within a wide sphere of our society.

Mr Grima ends his contribution by stating: “with an increasingly pluralist Maltese society making very different choices to that taught by the Church, and with hot issues cropping up every day in court, from marriage annulments to issues of medical and legal ethics, a deliberate ‘pro-church’ series of appointments will, many lawyers and civil rights apologists fear, lead to an increasingly hostile, reaction by the ever-increasing non-church going public”.

With due apologies, Mr Grima knows just as much as I do that, there are all sorts of lawyers, all sorts of civil rights apologists and all sorts of church-goers and non-church goers. The bottom line always remains the same, that of strong moral and social values.

I must conclude by stating that I, personally, have always found that a strong spiritual background has been conducive to sustaining and standing for the above values in the 40 years my professional career and in all aspects of my social life.

Godfrey Leone Ganado

MADLIENA