I refer to the article Marriage and the family – a fundamental benefit to the individual and society (TMID, 9 August), based on the statement issued by the Bishops.
The Bishops seem to make it quite clear that the statement is addressed to “the Christian community”. Am I missing something here? It is very odd that it was not addressed to the Catholic community, because as far as I know, there are major Christian religions and communities that permit divorce and re-marriage!
And the bishops say that “one has to go against the current” and “give a contribution openly in favour of marriage and the family” and overcome the “fear of criticism”. The implications of all this are quite significant. Does it mean that the Bishops are acknowledging that “the current” is in favour of divorce? Does it mean that they are starting to acknowledge the realities of this country?
It is exactly the fear of criticism that keeps many people from sounding their opinion. But the Bishops should also know that it is much more difficult to advocate for change rather than to support the status quo. If divorce is allowed in this country, it will expose the true number of people who are really practicing their Catholic religion. My guess is that now that one major political party has openly declared its intentions, the Bishops want to push those in favour of the status quo to sound their voice, forgetting about the rights of the rest. They want the other party in government, traditionally very conservative when it relates to such issues, to think twice about addressing the reality of divorce. The statement issued, in my opinion, aims to mobilise the anti-divorce lobby and to give a big brother warning to the government.
However, I think that what the Bishops say is really true – that marriage and the family are a fundamental benefit to the individual and society.
What the Bishops fail to address is what happens when that marriage breaks down. Notwithstanding our good intentions when we get married, some marriages do fail! So, what happens in such cases? The Bishops should enlighten us further. Are we supposed to dig our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is ok? Are we supposed to bear with it for the rest of our lives? Anyone with some sense in his head will try to save the marriage, but when after all this, the marriage still fails, then there is no other real alternative to divorce!
This is where things start to get mixed up in the statement by the Bishops. “Whatever weakens and breaks up marriage and the family, such as cohabitation and divorce ... has serious and lasting consequences on the common good of our society”. When are the Bishops going to realise, or admit, that cohabitation and divorce come long after a marriage has failed, and are not the cause of marriage breakdown?
When are they going to realise that the true marriage breakdown is the result of egoistic behaviour usually of one of the partners in the marriage, notwithstanding the marriage vows taken on the altar? When are they going to realise that without divorce, there is no option but to cohabit with another person since one is denied the right to re-marry and form a new family?
The Church continues to try to fool itself that this is not the case... and it has every right to do this. It does not have the right, however, to impose its beliefs on the rest of civil society. We cannot afford to remain the fundamentalist religious State that we are now in this country.
VINCENT MAGRI
Mtarfa