On Saturday by going to the polls on the consultative referendum on whether divorce should be introduced as a civil right as well as an option which one may opt for freely if his/her marriage has been decidedly on the rocks for four years or more – way beyond ‘repair’ – Maltese society will be deciding on something more important than that too.
Malta will decide whether it intends to remain a confessional state or not or really come of age and become truly secular.
Once, in my opinion, both sides have by now exhausted most of their ammo, I think I will be doing the best justice to the pro-divorce camp by limiting myself to the cheesiest quotes uttered by the anti-divorce movement and campaigners to give the Maltese a further inkling about the efforts under way to take us back to the dark ages. I will do so deliberately without any additional comments on my part.
Here it goes:
“According to the NSO we have more than 130,000 married persons and a bit more than 13,000 who are separated. The fact that for 130,000 persons marriage is not just an ideal but a practice throughout their daily life shows that 90% of Maltese society is happy…” – IL-ĠURNAL FLIMKIEN
“There is nothing wrong in divorce given by the Courts of another country that is also recognised in Malta because of the fact that we are part of a large community of states which abide by the rules of Private International Law” – THE NO MOVEMENT, VIDA MAGAZINE – MAY 2011
“Divorce did not reduce the problems for children that live with their parents who cohabit but on the contrary, in many instances it increases the risk…” – HELEN D’AMATO, COMMISSIONER FOR CHILDREN – ILLUM 1.5.11
“Society should not define the future of the family. On the contrary it should be society that should adjust to the needs of the family…” – THE PRIME MINISTER, IN-NAZZJON 12.5.11
Asked whether in being against all forms of divorce the NO MOVEMENT was against giving a second chance to those whose marriage had broken down through no fault of their own, Dr Andrè Camilleri said divorce “did not solve the injustices these people were facing, but on the contrary, it increased them, as it would give people an easy way out” – DR ANDRE CAMILLERI, THE NO MOVEMENT – THE TIMES 26.4.11
“Divorce will make it easier to break up a marriage since after a number of years and surely after the first generation, youths will no longer know of a marriage that should be a commitment for life. In life generally speaking in front of the problem you have two options: You can either run away from or come face to face with ‘the problem.’ Everyone knows that it is easier (not better) to run away from ‘the problem’” – PIERRE CORDINA, THE NO MOVEMENT – MALTA TODAY 3.4.11
“People were excited about the wedding of William and Kate as they told each other ‘till death us do part’ as it was everyone’s wish that they will have a never ending happy marriage…” – ĠRAJJIET B’TIFSIRA, EDITORIAL, IN-NAZZJON 7.5.11
“All those who are experiencing difficulties in their marriage should say Yes to Christ and No to divorce” – IL-MOVIMENT KRISTU IVA, DIVORZJU LE – IN-NAZZJON 7.5.11
“It is indeed regrettable that some speakers of the pro-divorce lobby and even sections of the media are resorting to bullying tactics to try and silence the voice of those who stand in defence of marriage as we see it today including the Church... Why did certain people go to the Our Lady of Sorrows procession in the first place? When will we become Christians of faith and conviction rather than just ritual? How sorrowful. These people thought that going to a procession on the occasion of Our Lady of Sorrows will buy them some sort of ticket to heaven…” – FINANCE MINISTER TONIO FENECH, THE INDEPENDENT – 27.4.11.
“Abusive husbands will move on to other abusive marriages and bring with them new pressures on their second wives due to alimony and maintenance obligations to their former wives…” – BEPPE FENECH ADAMI – HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – 8.4.11
“Are we on the brink? We are, but it doesn’t mean we have to accept defeat. I think it is a blessing; we are in a period where we are being made to re-establish the value of marriage. It is right that we are compassionate to these poor people (those with broken marriages) but id doesn’t mean that we should jump to the conclusion that divorce is the answer…” – EDDIE FENECH ADAMI, MALTA TODAY – 9.4.11
“Recent statements appearing in the media and public reaction seemed to indicate that people were ready to compromise… thinking the country is ready to go for it (introducing divorce)… he warned of disaster if Malta introduces divorce… he had nothing against a law that protected one spouse against the other, without endangering the institution of marriage…” – EDDIE FENECH ADAMI – 22.3.11
“It is not easy to establish what is best between cohabitation and divorce since overall figures show that divorce in any country where legalised increased cohabitation rather than decreasing it…” – JOYCE CASSAR, MOVIMENT LE – ILLUM – 17.4.11
“Wherever divorce was introduced, families, spouses and the least to blame of all, children ended up worse off. Marriages decreased and cohabitation increased. this is a logical outcome, as many couples see no sense in entering into a commitment ‘till death do us part’ when they know that either spouse can break up the marriage and enter into a second, third or fourth marriage...” DR ANDRE CAMILLERI, NO MOVEMENT – MALTA TODAY 10.4.11
“In an email Fr Joe Borg suggested that parish chaplains should forward them a list of separated couples and children from broken marriages to speak ‘intelligently’ against a law on divorce. it is important to give a voice to those ‘more vulnerable’ to know what they think of the proposed divorce legislation. This is why I advised the participation of separated couples as well as their sons and daughters…” – MALTA TODAY QUOTING FR JOE BORG – 10.4.11
“By introducing divorce, marriage will be reduced to a simple contract just like when one buys a new house…” – DR AUSTIN BENCINI, THE NO MOVEMENT – IN-NAZZJON 10.4.11
“Divorce went against the common good and today’s circumstances did not justify divorce even if there was the need to find solutions for marital breakdown… decisions had to be taken on the basis of what was best for maltese families. To argue otherwise meant also introducing abortion and euthanasia... the solution could never be one to make things simpler for those who wanted to end the marriage...” – THE PRIME MINISTER – PARLIAMENT – 15.3.11
‘The Cana movement founder Mgr Charles Vella urged the Church to talk in a language laymen understand if it wants to drive home its message, while maintaining that the introduction of divorce would not ruin families with strong Christian values... he also disagrees with clergymen who equate divorce with sin...” – FR CHARLES VELLA, THE TIMES – 3.4.11
“The introduction of divorce did not scare him, provided marriages were built on rock and not sand…” FR CHARLES VELLA – TWO YEARS AGO
“Wherever divorce was introduced the amount of children born out of wedlock increased instead of decreased…” – BEPPE FENECH ADAMI – ILLUM – 3.4.11
“A misleading question on divorce will cause confusion on the interpretation of the referendum result and objective, and will make the referendum an unjust exercise for people to go through. I believe that this irregularity – together with others – will make the consultative referendum an unjust exercise…” – EDWIN VASSALLO MP.
As you can see for yourselves I did not add any subjective comments or remarks although there was much to say and/or add. I sincerely wish that next Saturday Malta will make that important quantum leap forward. If not we have only ourselves to blame. But the result will still need to be respected during this legislature.