The present debate concerning the introduction or not of divorce legislation in Malta includes every entity in our country, first and foremost the Church and her pastors. That is why our bishops correctly issued a pastoral note to us priests on matters of doctrine regarding our priestly commitment and conduct vis-à-vis marriage and the family.
As their committed co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard, we priests are called to collaborate faithfully with our bishops as “teachers and guides of Christ’s disciples”. Such a noble yet highly responsible mission has been placed upon our shoulders in order that we fulfil it with utmost generosity and loyalty to Christ and his Church. In this year’s traditional meeting with priests of the Diocese of Rome held annually at the beginning of Lent, Pope Benedict XVI did not mince his words when saying that being a priest principally means “being an ambassador of Christ”. What the latter implies in practice is that the ordained minister “does not preach Christianity a la carte, according to his own tastes, preaching a Gospel according to his own preferred ideas, according to his own theological ideas. He does not exempt himself from proclaiming the whole will of God, also the uncomfortable will, also topics that personally do not please him so much”. So, how can on earth a priest ever be in favour or show the slightest inclination for divorce?
Last year we priests welcomed Pope Benedict XVI enthusiastically. The same Holy Father we joyfully rallied around reminded us what Jesus taught us about marriage. “So they are no longer two but one flesh.”
What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt 19, 6). In his address at the welcoming ceremony at Malta International Airport, the German Pontiff told us: “Your nation should continue to stand up for the indissolubility of marriage as a natural institution as well as a sacramental one, and for the true nature of the family, just as it does for the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death, and for the proper respect owed to religious freedom in ways that bring authentic integral development to individuals and society.” Can we, as priests, refrain from defending the indissolubility of marriage through our homilies, writings, TV talk shows, and lectures? Can we stand up and be counted for Jesus Christ and his Mystical Body, the Church?
As priests we are called to fashion our priestly consecration on the exemplar of our priestly existence, Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Jesus told us: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me” (Jn 10, 11. 14). Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he imparted solid teaching about the stability of marriage and the family which in turn gives life and life in abundance (see Jn 10, 10).
His instruction on marriage and the family fully agrees with God’s loving design for the sanctification and glorification of the human person. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen 2, 24). Jesus’ paschal mystery was also intended to purify, heal, solidify and render permanent the marital covenant as envisaged by the Creator. Who are we to abstain from our priestly duty to proclaim that marriage is indissoluble and that God hates divorce as he explicitly says in his revealed Word: “For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel” (Mal 2, 16)?
In this testing moment, both in our pastoral as well as civic life, we priests are challenged to make a fundamental decision: either opting for being shepherds according to Christ’s heart or just being hirelings. For those of us who contest or put into question Jesus’ teaching, as consistently expressed by his Church, let them not forget Christ’s reproof. “He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep” (Jn 10, 12-13). How can a priest really care for Christ’s flock if he votes, counsels or offers divorce, today’s wolf, as a remedy for marriage and family breakdown?
Speaking to the clergy, deacons and Christians in his Letter to the Trallians, Saint Ignatius of Antioch exhorted them: “Follow your bishop, every one of you, as obediently as Jesus Christ followed the Father. …Where the bishop is to be seen, there let all his people be; just as, wherever Jesus Christ is present, there is the Catholic Church.” Our bishops openly declared that “the Church’s mission is to promote the stability of marriage, insisting on the moment of consent as the focal point of one’s commitment. In divorce there is a shift from this focal point towards each moment, which is presented as giving the spouse a potential right to consider his/her consent and commitment thus ending one’s marriage (see Catechism of the Catholic Church nn. 1650 – 1; 2382-6)”.
Dear Father, defend courageously and persuasively the family and offer flourishing solutions for its permanence and growth. At the same time speak up and denounce divorce in what you say and do! Do not be afraid but speak up! As Jesus strongly advises you: “So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 10, 32-33).
Mario Attard OFM Cap