On a rainy afternoon in his office at his residence in Attard last week, Archbishop Paul Cremona, OP, speaks to Juan Ameen about the importance of not being comfortable Christians, marriage breakdowns, migration and his first year in office.

January is an important month for the Archbishop – not only did he turn 62 last Friday but he was ordained as Archbishop a year ago on 26 January, just one day after his 61st birthday.

When his name was announced as the man to succeed outgoing Archbishop Mgr Joseph Mercieca on 2 December 2006, the Maltese responded with warmth and affection when they saw and met Mgr Cremona for the first time.

“It was very important for me to meet the people when my nomination was made public. It is only natural that the Maltese were enthusiastic when my name was announced – not because they were specifically happy about me but because obviously they were happy that the new Archbishop had been named,” he said.

With his warm and friendly smile, that has become one of his popular traits, Mgr Cremona said he still feels that the initial warmth and love for him is still there.

“Even though it is not as strong as it was at the very beginning, there is still that affection,” he said.

I mentioned the various meetings he had in his first days: meeting young people in Paceville and the children at Ta’ Qali among others.

“At the beginning of my office, I went out to meet the Maltese; however, obviously at that time I was meeting the people and not the individuals. Now I am holding meetings with smaller groups of people, organisations, people with a disability and voluntary groups – I am meeting the individual and passing on the Word of God,” he said.

He compared it to episodes mentioned in the Bible when Jesus held large meetings with the crowds. “However, Jesus was more effective and helped pass on the good news more clearly when he met with individuals.”

Mgr Cremona went on to say that there is still a lot to be done – “after all I have only been one year in office and I used it to see what needed to be worked upon.”

He jokingly pointed out that as opposed to politicians who knew that they were candidates for a post or for an election, he did not know that he was a candidate for the archbishopric before his name was announced.

“My role is to give light, to pass on the good news – I am meeting and visiting parishes and institutions to see, at an in-depth level, what needs to be improved,” he said.

I pointed out that, very often, the values of Maltese society are said to be the same as Christian values and asked him if he thought this was true – especially in today’s society.

He was quick to give an explanation: “Values are the way you look at life – society’s values, including Maltese values, are not the same as Christian values – they don’t always match,” he said.

Mgr Cremona was very quick to speak about the importance of living the Word of God in everyday life.

“The Word of God has to be lived at the home and at the workplace – Jesus never said that it would be easy,” he said.

When asked about what needs to be done to improve the falling attendance rates for Mass – especially for youths who were the largest group who are keeping away, he replied that faith is not just a gift or something that is easily acquired but needs to be worked on.

“You can’t be a comfortable Christian and ease your conscience by saying that you only go to Mass once a week. There are various churches in Malta that specifically organise Masses for young people and, in fact, the KDZ are distributing leaflets with the places and times of these Masses,” he said.

Mgr Cremona again explained the concept of a comfortable Christian. “If a youth is ready to drive from Birzebbugia to Paceville once a week because he wants to go out, then it is no excuse not to go to Mass simply because his parish does not organise youth Masses,” he said.

“If you really want to go to Mass then it will not be a problem to go to another parish for a youth Mass,” he said.

When asked about the recent views expressed by the Church about the place of women in society, he pointed out that unfortunately, the Church is often depicted in a negative light because it often draws attention away from the material aspects of life.

“It is true that many families have financial obligations but they have to make time for themselves – you have to try to remember that you need time to build a relationship with your partner,” he said.

It is useless making your partner feel special through grand gestures only on one day during the year – it is the small every-day things that count, added Mgr Cremona.

“You cannot give your partner – or your children – the leftovers of your time after you finish work,” he said.

As a result, when the Church tries to remind society about these things then it might sound negative, he explained.

Mgr Cremona went on to say that when women decide to make the sacrifice to stay at home and bring up their children then this should be considered a value and society should not look at them negatively as it sometimes does.

“There is still a value in staying at home and bringing up the children,” he said.

When asked about the recent comments by Pope Benedict XVI about the importance of not separating science from ethics, Mgr Cremona pointed out that, usually, the people who claim to be liberal are the ones who do not listen to other voices. Mgr Cremona pointed out that science can be just an end in itself, while ethics helps science to be exercised in the light of other values, like a holistic approach to humanity and even the environment.

“Everyone has the right to his own ideas and his own thoughts, however, it is not fair to name a scientist who has Christian values as being brainwashed simply because of his religious values when the same would not be done to a person with other values,” he said.

We also discussed the issue of migration – an issue which he had once said was often a cause of the Maltese “forgetting” their Christian values.

“First and foremost, if a person has faith then they will not see the colour of a person’s skin or anything superficial but they will see an image of God,” he said.

“You can’t turn against irregular migrants – people usually associate racism with criminality but the number of crimes committed by migrants is very low,” said Mgr Cremona. Certain people tend to associate irregular immigration with criminality, but then the number of irregular migrants accused of criminal behaviour is relatively very low. The Archbishop also emphasised that the Church is not only telling the Maltese to accept them, it is also taking action.

“Through the Emigrants Commission and the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Church is helping and taking care of around 300 immigrants. The Peace Lab does a lot of good work too,” he said.

The Church, mainly through the Emigrants’ Commission, the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Peace Laboratory is doing a lot of work. These three institutions provide different services. The Emigrants’ Commission is mainly providing shelter to more than 350 people, including around 125 children. The Peace Lab shelters people too. The Jesuit Refugee Service mainly seeks to provide advice and assistance to asylum seekers and defend their rights.

The Archbishop also spoke about the importance of giving young people a helping hand when they are going through the difficult time of adolescence.

“During the transition period of becoming adults, youths are often left on their own. They start doubting and questioning everything and, during this moment, are often exploited, for instance for drug use, alcohol or gambling. Parents often feel lost and don’t know what to do and I think we should try to focus on finding a way of supporting them during this difficult time,” he said.

He also expressed his concern at the increasing number of marriage breakdowns.

“At least one person will always get hurt – one person described the process as “a shattered dream” and obviously it is worse if there are children involved,” said Mgr Cremona.

He spoke about the importance of focusing on prevention and also providing help for the couple, and for the children, if any.

“I still think that certain people still have to understand the concept of marriage. It is not about owning a person or feeling that the person belongs to you – it is about living your life for someone else,” he said.

Prevention is very important – perhaps children are not disciplined enough when they are young and do not know how to face or tackle problems when they are in a relationship, said Mgr Cremona.

“It is obvious that there will be problems and challenges in a relationship – the couple has to stop and reflect on how to improve their relationship – it is an ongoing process – otherwise what started off as a slight crack will eventually become a gulf,” he said.

The Archbishop compared this exercise to confession. “You can’t say that you are building a relationship with God if you don’t see what can be improved through the sacrament of confession, recognising what needs to be insisted upon and lived, and what needs to be changed or healed” he said.