One of my favourite stories this summer has to be the one about a member of the whale family, the dolphins who are kept near the Splash and Fun Park, being monitored for the Robbie Williams concert, in case the noise levels disturbed them.

This is of course something to be applauded, but how many summers of petards do we have to endure before humans started to be treated with some respect too? I am sure many of us, like the dolphins, would love to have a caring vet or similar monitoring "the environment to ensure that noise caused during the concert does not rise beyond an established threshold, department representative Mireille Vella said when contacted."

We also read that having a concert in such close proximity to the dolphins is just poor management. So what is the launching of petards so close to the homes of babes?

Do fireworks enthusiasts have to apply for a permit to launch their show? Can't permits for ear banging noise only petards be banned forthwith? Is it really that difficult to achieve?

At the same time we had a report on declining Church attendance in terms of Sunday Mass, even though it is obvious that non spiritual events like festas have turned out to have very strong support indeed.

One parish in the centre of Malta woke up my siesta loving friend only days after the festa to start collecting for next year's fireworks display.

The fireworks thing has become an immense source of pride to communities and why not? Our fireworks displays are stunning, but there is no need for petards (murtali) and the Church must use its considerable influence to say so, and to say they should have no part in any feast with any spiritual connotation anyway.

Just like they very rightly ban the feast when silly arguments between various factions put the whole spirituality thing on hold, they could just ban these petards. That is if they put communities first, which I am sure they want to do and which is what is expected most of all from our country's spiritual leaders.

After all the Church has woken from its slumber lately and objected for example to the Verdala golf course where sense prevailed, and if it has the environment at heart noise pollution is as harmful as anything else.

You just can't imagine anything less spiritual than these immense ear blasting petards. Obviously I don't think Church attendance is declining because of petards and dolphins, but it does show that the great faith we boast about is in many ways still way too superficial, and if the Church wants to perhaps convince the younger generation, it has to lead by example, and not continue this policy of placating the abusers which really is this country's trademark.

And incidentally if you want convince young kids of the importance and beauty of spirituality by dragging them out to classes two or three times a week in order to do their Communion or Confirmation, please note you are on to a losing battle. Why have these boring classes when these kids could well be prepared at school in religion lessons, yet we insist on these outdated practises where you have to suffer to be part of the flock.

There is absolutely nothing that is spiritual that comes from sending six-year-olds to draw and colour for these duttrina (catechism) classes. Less may well turn out to be more in terms of religious indoctrination. People want spirituality in their lives, but they don't want the kind of spirituality on offer. They want something genuine and meaningful that brings us all together and not this kind of this is a club with rules and you're either in or out.

That kind of outdated approach, as well as threatening the wrath of God, brought fear to my parents generation but thankfully mine and all the young things are increasingly less bothered.

And besides everything else we do not all live within walking distance of our parishes any more. Many of us don't leave our kids just walk to the parish hall? So it's just crazy to see all these mummies (and the odd daddy) driving their kids to these duttrina classes in their petrol guzzlers for half an hour or so and coming back, when kids at home after school just want to chill out and relax with their families and not be dragged out to all this unnecessary non spiritual heckling.

And now they have raised the age for Confirmation, so the years of these classes has lengthened enormously.

Religious attendance will plummet further if the Church goes on with this totally unreasonable approach. Our young kids will run a mile as soon as they are able as they are already doing...

So declining Church attendance does not only mean a less moral society per se as some are implying. It is also a positive rejection of that which does not have any meaning for people any more, even though the vast majority of those who don't attend this boring and repetitive Mass every Sunday still consider themselves Catholics and can still be reached.

Not just to follow meaningless rules, but to have something other than material values in their lives, which is what many of us yearn for, though we may instead and for a while indulge in booze, promiscuity, making money, ecstasy and coke as a way of having some sense in our senseless lives.

Perhaps more of our leaders can put humans first as at least we tried to do with the dolphins?

As we read in Heathcote Williams Whale Nation

From space: "The planet is blue, from space the planet is the territory not of humans but of the whale."

It certainly does not feel like our planet ,with our lives being given the first priority right now, although I strongly believe things will change.