His appointment has brought joy and optimism in our country. His initial words upon making the first brave and obedient steps on the Maltese soil solemnly declare his wholehearted love to serve generously Christ in his Church. “First of all I want to express my joy that I have returned back home in order to be close to the Archbishop to help him as an Auxiliary Bishop.
“I greet the Maltese people and I promise them that I give my life for them.” Such simple, erudite, and, mostly, spiritual words, could only come out from the mouth of Malta’s new Auxiliary Bishop, Mgr Charles Scicluna. May they manage to move completely away certain individuals’ hardness of heart and mind! Whoever these people may be!
The tactic which the new Auxiliary Bishop has pledged to employ so as to fulfil his episcopal ministry is dialogue. He reiterated that dialogue is the key factor through which he will learn how to shepherd God’s people. He confessed: “I will love the Maltese Church as I have always done and change will come through dialogue. My real wish is to be a good listener. When I live there I will gain the right to speak
but before I speak I need to listen.”
An exceptionally fair statement wherein dialogue puts both right and duty in a perfect equilibrium which flourishingly tends towards charity in truth!
Mgr Scicluna’s profound words powerfully remind me of what the Second Vatican Council Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus, had to say concerning the always valid and solid episcopal trait of dialogue. “Since it is the mission of the Church to converse with the human society in which it lives, it is especially the duty of bishops to seek out men and both request and
promote dialogue with them. These conversations on salvation ought to be noted for clarity of speech as well as humility and mildness in order that at all times truth may be joined to charity and understanding with love.
“Likewise they should be noted for due prudence joined with trust, which fosters friendship and thus is capable of bringing about a union of minds” (§ 13).
But listening to whom? First of all to Archbishop Cremona whose wisdom and pastoral charity are certainly undisputed. As the latter’s closest collaborator and adviser, Mgr Scicluna made it crystal clear that he “look[s] forward to learn from this extraordinary person” how to be a bishop. While constantly aiming to live Jesus’ words, namely “giving his life for his flock”, Mgr Scicluna humbly acknowledged that he feels “privileged to be able to assist and learn from Archbishop Cremona, who has a wonderful human touch,” the way he can best serve God’s people on this apostolic island.
Moreover, the new Auxiliary Bishop is undoubtedly eager to learn from the different sectors of people he will be dialoging with. He persuasively said: “I look forward to… listen to the Maltese people and to share with them the great treasure of the faith St Paul gave us.” Bearing in mind of course that the kind of dialogue he wants to be engaged in should scrupulously follow the subsequent enduring proper characteristics which Pope Paul VI clearly outlined in his encyclical on the Church Ecclesiam Suam, namely clarity, meekness, confidence and prudence. Saint Ignatius of Antioch exhorts us Maltese how to genuinely receive our new Auxiliary Bishop: “Follow your bishop, every one of you, as obediently as Jesus Christ followed the Father… His very demeanour is a great lesson and his meekness is his strength.
“I believe that even the godless do respect”. Dear Mgr Charles Scicluna we lovingly welcome you!
■ Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap