There was a time in the not-too-distant past when many Maltese used to complain that although we are a religious-minded Roman Catholic people, we never ever had a Maltese cardinal.
We now have a fully-fledged saint. Something which should do us proud as a nation irrespective of the degree of our involvement in the Church and related spiritual matters.
Coming in the wake of the recent progressive changes in the hierarchy of the Church in Malta, these events which will reach their peak on the historical day of 3 June should inject a new vitality and dynamism in the local Church.
This was already evident in the way in which the appointment of the new Archbishop was received by the Maltese. Mgr Paul Cremona – who seems to have a very strong sense of humour – will surely not take it as an insult if I say that the public response almost veered on Beetlemania!
Public expectations are high and people will obviously be expecting him to deliver. Which I am sure that he will do in his quiet, laid back and straightforward manner.
At the same time, I think we should all rein in our impatience and not expect all the Church’s problems to be solved overnight.
While understandably his ecclesiastical honeymoon will be soon over, we need to give the man time to prioritise his agenda and implement it in a collegial manner in keeping with his style and approach of administering the Church.
Admittedly he has a tall agenda.
Not only will he have to struggle to increase Church attendance and hopefully restore it to its former levels, he must also inject a new openness in the way things are run.
Some might criticise his predecessor Mgr Mercieca but one has to give him credit for having defused tensions even when these started rearing their monstrous head. Some of his policies were on the conservative side, but he meant well and most important of all, he had no hidden agendas.
Coming back to Dun Gorg Preca, I cannot but deplore the efforts of certain political elements who had tried to lobby the Vatican to use the humble man’s sainthood as a pretext to get the Pope over to Malta in the run-up to the general elections.
Let me make it clear, the Pope is always welcome – even literally on election eve, but I have already heard of certain Nationalists who rather than rejoicing about the sainthood of Dun Gorg Preca, felt deflated that they cannot make the political capital out of the event as they would have been able to make had the Pope turned up in Malta in the middle of an election campaign.
It is important that we keep politics and Church matters separate from each other.
Recently I heard that a popular local TV anchorman was thinking of dedicating a whole edition of his weekly show to the infamous Interdett (Interdiction).
While the subject could be of interest, I beg to question the timing, particularly when Labourites have never felt so close and so enthusiastic about the Church in Malta.
Now is surely not the time to open old wounds. The same can be said for reports that the same programme’s organisers were even toying with the idea of organising a whole programme on the Pietru Pawl Busuttil saga so close to the local elections. At a time when the man is running for mayor in his village. Although I understand that the whole project has been put on ice, at least for the time being.
What we need is to bring back the flock to the Church’s folds through positive action – which I am sure is the top priority for our engaging new Archbishop.
If there is one thing that one can learn from the former Pope John Paul II, it is that in spite of persistent media images of him as a “conservative” Pope, in many ways he was the least traditional Pope of modern times, stirring the enthusiasm even of those who might not have always warmed to his decisions.
Arguably John L. Allen Jr had hit the nail on the head when he commented that over the course of a quarter century, he redefined the nature and the style of the papal office, making it a more evangelical and less managerial position. Until the very end, he remained a Pope of surprise, always capable of upending business as usual.
The same way that a Pope doesn’t simply offer an apology off the cuff, one should welcome the fact that the Church in Malta had apologised for some of its actions in the past.
In my teens, one of the books that had inspired me most was The Pageant Of The Popes.
What had spurred me on to read it was the papacy of Pope John XXIII, a Pope who had left an indelible mark on both my late parents and I.
One definite plus of our new Archbishop is that he claims to be inspired by him and by his ecumenical approach to spiritual matters.
This should be a win-win situation for us all.
With Dun Gorg Preca declared a saint, not only the Church will have won but it will be a victory for honesty, integrity and simplicity.
Away from the glitz of gimmickry and commercialism.
We might in our majority be far more sinners than saints, but it is good to know that by mid-year, we will officially have the second father of the Maltese Church.
As Pope John II had declared solemnly in a memorable speech during his visit to Malta in May 2001.
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Leo Brincat is the opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs and IT