There were far more comments of praise and admiration, both on Facebook and in the comment section of The Times, for a blogpost by controversial Dominican Fr Mark Montebello in which he roundly criticised the terror campaign being waged by supporters of the No vote in preparation for Saturday’s divorce referendum.

He said that as an official minister of the Catholic Church, he had been involuntarily made part of things, which, in conscience, he did not, could not and would not endorse.

“For during the last few months I have been humiliated over and over again by the injudicious behaviour of the local Catholic Church in general and of some Catholics in particular. Their faults are also mine,” he wrote.

Fr Montebello said that by officially declaring it would not take part in the campaign debates, the Catholic Church placed itself in a position of being able to inflict damage on its adversaries without the possibility of rebuttal.

“In a political and pragmatic sense, this is worse than what happened in the 1960s. Alas, despite this stand, the Church stealthily wrought immense pressure on many people’s consciences.”

He then went on to give, as examples, how religious celebrations, including weddings, were ‘routinely exploited’ for political propagandist purposes. The alleged Virgin Mary of Borġ in-Nadur was made to campaign with anathemas and threats of her own. All sorts of printed material were sent to households with parish structures to influence the electorate. People were consistently told that divorce would open the door to abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriages and would, moreover, increase poverty.

Some were scared into believing that the referendum is part of a sinister ploy to ultimately destroy the Church in Malta and Gozo, he said.

The head of the pro-divorce main lobby group was banned from practising at the ecclesiastical tribunals. Members of religious lay groups were told by their spiritual directors that they would have to leave if they voted yes or not at all. Posters similar to those of the 1960s were put up on church doors. Partisan politicians were allowed to make religious arguments without impunity.

“I am deeply humiliated and ashamed by all of this. This is not the Catholic Church I believe in and love,” he said.

Marlene Mizzi wrote: Father Mark: you are what the Catholic Church should be to its followers − tolerant and understanding. Unfortunately, many are looking upon their Church with resentment and fear associated with the Inquisition. Being called tradituri, lpup u briganti by one of our leaders for having an opinion different from his, will not endear us to the Church. You are a breath of fresh air and hope for all of us who are proud to be Catholic.

Terry Gosden wrote: The hardest step is the thought, conviction, belief, and truth carries the day. I bet you have scared the lights out of a lot of complacent people. What comes next is ‘their’ problem, as they have to defend the lies, sophistry, and misdirection.

Sharon Camilleri Cachia wrote: I wish and wish that priests follow your steps... but as always it will be too late when they realise that you are right... like Manwel Dimech after all! Thank you for being the voice of reason, in a time where reason is a precious commodity. (For evil to prevail, it only takes good men to look away.)

Only one person contradicted Fr Mark on his Facebook page. However she then quoted Matthew 25:31 regarding what is called the Rapture and then she suggested people take the numbers and play them in the lottery!

On The Times comment pages, James Grech wrote: Some of you are criticising Fr Mark and urging him to leave. He said, if you can at all read, that this is not the Church he believes in. Sure, here we are not talking about the Catholic Church in general, but only the MALTESE CHURCH. That Church which is stuck in the Middle Ages and which interprets Christ’s teachings in a different manner than other Catholic Churches it seems. Where have you read for example that the Irish Church allowed its members to pursue individual crusades against divorce? Where did it allow its clergymen to damn those that voted for divorce?

I totally agree with Fr Mark, this is definitely not the Church I believe in.