29 July 2011 will go down as ‘ Black Friday’ for the presidency in Malta because on this day the incumbent signed the divorce bill to be enacted in the Laws of Malta.
Unfortunately, most of our MPs who declare that they are ‘Catholic’ failed miserably and showed great inconsistency with regard to their personal beliefs. Each and every one of us cannot, while solemnly declaring that we are Catholic, show how populist we can be by voting in favour of this divorce law.
However, unlike the Prime Minister who in his concluding address in Parliament on the Divorce Bill quoted his Oath on becoming Prime Minister of Malta, the President chose to be a populist President instead of leading our country according to his Oath of Office on becoming President of Malta as stated in the Constitution.
(a) Oath on taking office of President.
I solemnly swear/affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of President (perform the functions of the President) of Malta, and will, to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of Malta (so help me God).
Following this, it was up to the President of Malta to act according to his personal Catholic convictions and according to the Constitution of Malta in terms of Article 2: (1) The religion of Malta is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion.
It has to be stated that in his welcome speech to Pope Benedict XVI on his arrival in Malta on 17 April 2010, the President said: “… the majority of our people still believe in monogamous marriage, based on the relationship between a man and a woman, open to the procreation of children, and consequently to the formation of a family as the bedrock of our nation.”
The last words in his farewell speech before leaving for Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Be worthy sons and daughters of Saint Paul.” It is very much regretted that the words spoken by the President are now considered as ‘frivolous’
On 24 July, after leading the Angelus, the Pope addressed the crowd at Castel Gandolfo and spoke about the moral responsibility of those in government.
Benedict XVI commented on the first reading from today’s liturgy, a passage from the Book of Kings in which Solomon, ascending the throne, asks God for an understanding heart to serve His people with justice and to distinguish between good and evil.
The Pope explained the meaning of Solomon’s prayer. “We know that ‘heart’ in the Bible indicates not just a part of the body but the core of the individual, the seat of his intentions and judgments; in other words, his conscience. An ‘understanding heart’ means, then, a conscience capable of listening, sensitive to the voice of truth and thus able to distinguish good from evil. In Solomon’s case the request is motivated by his responsibility for guiding a nation, Israel, the people whom God chose to reveal His plan of salvation to the world. The king of Israel must, then, seek constant harmony with God and listen to His Word, in order to guide the people along the ways of the Lord, the way of justice and peace.”
“However,” the Holy Father added, “the example of Solomon applies to us all. Each of us has a conscience, which makes us, in a certain sense ‘king’; in other words, it enables us to exercise the supreme human dignity of acting according to right conscience, doing good and avoiding evil. Moral conscience presupposes a capacity to listen to the voice of truth, humbly to follow its guidance. People called to play a role in government naturally have a further responsibility and, as Solomon teaches, have even greater need of God’s help.
“But everyone has their part to play in their own particular situation. An erroneous mentality suggests that we should ask God for favours or favourable conditions. Yet the truth is that the real quality of our lives, and of social life in general, depends on the sound conscience of each individual, on the capacity of each person to recognise what is good, distinguish it from evil and patiently seek to put it into effect.”
Pope Benedict concluded: “May the Virgin Mary help us, with God’s grace, to make out own consciences open to truth and sensitive to justice, in order to serve the Kingdom of God”.
Maybe Pope Benedict’s intentions on that day were addressed to the President of Malta and the majority of our parliamentarians, who on the following day, 25 July, voted to approve the Divorce Law.
Henry S. Pace