And how they laughed and mocked when Tonio Fenech spoke about the Madonna, and how they called the PN “confessional”
Here’s the Minister of Health, really busy on a Sunday morning carrying the statwa tal-festa.
You have to hand it to these people, because they really do try to have their cake, eat it, regurgitate it, and bake it again for another go.
I mean, what is this – Roman Catholicism a la carte?
Godfrey Farrugia is married to X in the eyes of the RC church and apparently even in the eyes of the law, still. They have children together. But for years he has lived with Marlene Farrugia (no relation) who is still, in the eyes of that same RC Church, married to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, with whom she has children.
Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church considers them to be living in a state of permanent adultery and, if I remember my primary school catechism correctly, mortal sin. Mortal sin renders a person estranged from the Roman Catholic Church. To return to a state of grace, he/she must repent and cease the particular sin. It is not enough to carry on sinning with regret and sorrow.
Now all this is irrelevant to me because I’m definitely not a churchy type and never have been. But the Minister of Health is very obviously something of a really churchy type, so I just don’t get it. What is he trying to do, exactly – have the situation, to literally translate a famous Maltese expression, pregnant and nursing (note to some: this is impossible in human biology)?
67 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
I don’t think he’s particularly religious. He’s really into the village feast, though.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-12/news/minister-carries-statue-in-hometown-feast-1575911424/
Maybe he asked for a waiver from the Roman Catholic code of ethics, and got it.
best comment of the week, congrats
Did he cry afterwards? He must have been exhausted.
There are so many of these people. As the Maltese saying goes, jibilghu l-ostji u jahraw ix-xjaten.
How do they reconcile a permanent state of adultery with calling themselves practising Catholics? It’s utterly ridiculous. But then the health minister has already demonstrated that he can’t take a decision, or rather, make a choice.
However, Daphne, these people are dinosaurs, which can self-impregnate, nurse and be pregnant simultaneously.
Does that mean they can fuck themselves?
Splendid.
Everyone!
Autosexual.
He likes the party without the commitment. Now let’s all cry about it.
Curia should issue a fatwa for carrying the statwa.
Hilarious — or ‘tal-biki’ actually.
Dear Daphne, in Malta we do things differently from other Catholics.
A lot of people believe in Catholicism a la carte so that we sort of follow the rules as long as convenient but “bazwar ftit ‘l hawn u bazwar ftit ‘l hemm” kif jaqblilna.
After all, if I remember well Marlene Farrugia, then still Mrs Pullicino Orlando, was against divorce because she wanted to follow in the footsteps of Our Lady.
Lots of examples in everyday life – we donate to the missions “ghax jahasra fqar hafna” but we don’t want any such person to come to Malta. How dare they! It’s too much.
And the latest is the way some people howled at how resources where being misspent when rescuing the French holiday makers. So much for the virtue of charity, which is the true mark of any decent human being.
But the most common absurdity, where our faith is concerned, is the ” dagha fahxi” – and I mean really obscene – against “Alla” and il-Madonna – the adjectives that decorate these expletives make one’s ears burn.
All this when many Maltese think we are the most Catholic people in the world.
Tell me about it. We had an argument at work once because one parish priest decided that known adulterers should not take the Eucharist if they are present as godfathers during the Confirmation ceremony (still ultimately leaving it up to them to decide by their consceince, though).
It’s a question of leading by example, which is what the godfather should do in the first place.
But apparently, my colleagues said, he’s alienating the people from the Church and that at this rate there would be no more godfathers in future.
It really brought home for me just how much many (if not most) Maltese expect an a la carte Catholicism, with all the privileges and pomp but none of the responsibilities.
Personally, I can’t help but compare the often hollow practice of ‘Maltese’ Catholicism with my first real spiritual experience in Taizé a couple of years ago. (It’s a beautiful place, by the way, and a great experience for young Christians of all denominations and soul-searchers.)
While such travelling is an experience in itself, it’s a shame that people here can’t have the opportunity to enjoy similar experiences because of the locals’ vision of the predominant Catholicism.
There was a picture of our Joseph doing the same thing in the Burmarrad feast.
If I recall correctly , I saw it on Xarabank when Joseph won the MLP leadership race.
Ok I found it 4:02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFMIzC4Eug0
What’s the big deal!
We’re going to have to carry the burden of thier idiocy for 5 bl**dy years!
You ain’t seen nothing yet – wait till Santa Katarina or Tal-Karmnu of Zurrieq, Marlene’s patrons.’
Just like the Catholic Church picks and chooses the parts of the bible they like, Catholics pick and choose from their church’s teachings. Not surprising, really.
Ah, a creationist I suppose. Excuse my guesswork but that’s how the Newborn/young Earthers speak. Not that I want to stand up of for the Catholics but these arguments between Christians or any other religion are petty.
Well, I am an atheist. So definitely, no creationist agenda (on the contrary!). But I do find odd how the Roman Catholic Church can pick and choose what is the true word of God (to justify why homosexuality is a sin) and what is symbolic/reflection of the time of writing (to explain why rape, genocide and slavery are justified in the Bible).
Does anyone still believe that homosexuality is a sin this side of the Atlantic?
Did he cry when he left his four children?
Just look at SOME of the Zejtun parishioners. The much loved and over worked archpriest Fr Eric Overand has just died, and these typical “statue-lovers” are petitioning to reverse the archbishop’s decision not to celebrate the feast of Saint Catherine as a sign of respect towards this young priest who gave every ounce of energy to his flock.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/petizzjoni-sabiex-tiġi-rikunsidrata-d-deċiżjoni-li-jitħassru-l-festi-interni-u-esterni-ta-santa-katarina-vm-fiż-żejtun.html?utm_medium=RSS
The creator of this petition is an active parishioner and a member of the Zejtun Choir. When Fr Eric died she posted several statuses about him – how much she admired him, how much she will miss him and how the parish will be forever grateful to such an exemplary, hard working priest.
When the Curia issued its decision, she went berserk on Facebook, falling short of a call to arms.
Hypocrisy at its best. Imbasta mmorru nistudjaw Cambridge. Mentalita’ ta’ wara l-muntanji.
You have to make a distinction. There is Cambridge, and then there is Cambrage.
I was underage but I still maid it two Cambrage. Once their, aye spent my time engaging inn badinage, and gambling heavily on cribbage, until my final year, when I had too salvage my degree. I had just one weak to right my magnum opus, “On Dynamical Leverage in a Fuselage”, under the tutelage of Professor Babbage. I can still here him screaming when I handed in my work, with the title in bold on the front page. “This is sewage!” he said, all in a rage. I wish I had some footage of the scene, ore at least an image.
Lil “Finding Nemo”: Dun Eric studja it-teologija u ghamel hafna sagrificci biex sar qassis, ghax kien hemm min ghamillu ogezzjoni quddiem il-kurja , b’sabar kbir qad jistenna sakemm jitnehha kull dell minn fuqu.Hafer lil min ghamillu l-bsaten fir-roti.Mohhu kien fl-erwieh u kif sa jghin u jferrah lil-proxxmu, mhux fil-festi, ghalih u ghal-hafna qassisin bhalu joqghodilom it-tixbieh tal-“Anglu tal-festa” deskritt bhala dak
“Bit-tbissima fuq fommu
u bil-musmar f’s**mu”
Fr Eric kien JIPPROVA jdawwar il-problema tal-festi f’opportunita biex jghaqqad in-nies, jew ahjar ma jiggieldux.
Kemm inkwiet ghal-xejn!!
Jekk dik li holqot il-petizzjoni, marret Cambridge biex timpika fil-festa , Father Eric m’ghamilx l-istudji tieghu biex jahli sahhtu u hinu ghad-damask ,il-vari u l-pilandri, studja biex jaghmel il-pastorali.
Jidher li avolja tmur Cambridge xorta dak li jkun ma jifhimx la ma tkunx irid jifhem.
Oh Baxxter! You have me in fits time and time again, but this is one of the few laughs I’ve had since March 9th.
Hilarious.
Baxxter, I pay homage to you for your reportage.
Not my best work, by far. Did I tell you about the time I had to release the undercarriage of an AirMalta jumbo in mid-flight?
I hear ciccio muttering that AirMalta does not fly jumbo jets.
When did I ever mention aeroplanes? She proposed marriage, but I declined when I saw her tonnage.
No, still weak.
To Gahan.
I couldn’t have put it better myself.
I am from Zejtun and I agree with the statement you made which is exactly what I thought as soon as I got to know about this petition.
However I will let you know what is the interpretation of some locals on this regard and I leave it to your interpretation if you please.
I personally do not concur with this. They are stating that cancelling the feast would be hypocritical since when the ‘sagristan’ died two years ago because of a fireworks incident, the internal feast still occurred, therefore their reasoning is that it would not be fair that this time the internal feast should be cancelled.
Also another statement I heard is that; when other people closely related to church activities have died in other localities, the village feast still took place.
I would like to know your reactions to the above statement, I personally find them illogical.
@Opla: Should people’s reactions to certain sad news remain as they were thirty years ago?
For a much loved festa-fire-lover, village hero and ‘sagristan’, Fr Eric saw to it that the external feast was not celebrated, by those same standards Fr Eric would have suspended the feast for the unexpected death of the archpriest.
That’s precisely what the archbishop logically decided. No ifs and buts.
These immature petitioners should GROW UP.
Opla’s “I am from Zejtun” reminded me that Fr Eric was from “Tas-Sliema” – St Gregory’s parish, to be precise.
Would anyone know if Marlene was there carrying the “forcina” (without remuneration of course)
It’s quite simple really. He is constantly making a fool of himself to atone for his state of permanent adultery. The two balance themselves out. Sort of.
I don’t like these bravati and they do not impress me rather they disgust me.
Participation in these type of activities should be out of bounds as long as he is a member of the cabinet.
No wonder the code of ethics has to be upgraded. Should now also include the non participation of members of the cabinet in the carrying the statue of the village patron saint during processions.
Something else which annoys me is seeing our president sitting in front in his official car next to the driver when on his way to official functions without his wife.
This does not make him a bahbuh. It makes him look graceless.
Forsi il-kas tal-lum kien parti minn weghda biex Godfrey jehles minn JPO minn ma’ saqajh.
Don’t expect any Bon Ton from P.L leaning people.
Religion and the Church have nothing to do with it. This is village politics from a patriott Zebbugi.
Village politics: the level of politics you would expect from a junior member in a sub-committee for the external celebrations of the village festa within the committee for the festa celebrations in the local parish. Nice.
I think the comments posted so far have missed the true and significant point of this blog post – that is the political (not just religious) hypocrisy of the JosephMuscat.com clan.
They “laughed and mocked” at Tonio Fenech’s remark involving the Madonna calling him and his party ‘confessional’ (i.e. invoking religious sentiments for political advantage or gain).
JosephMuscat.com and its ancestors in living memory have always excelled in preaching to others how they should behave politically but did precisely the opposite when it suited them.
Typical Labour attitude; a case of the pot calling the kettle black. They must be enjoying their honeymoon of 100 days.
The sad thing is that after five years of being told that it is confessional and conservative, the Nationalist Party is starting to believe this claptrap. During several meetings held during the leadership election campaign, people kept mentioning this issue and wondering why the Nationalist Party is not more liberal.
The truth is that THE NATIONALIST PARTY IS THE MOST LIBERAL PARTY MALTA HAS EVER HAD.
Liberalism is not just about sex and marriage as most Maltese think but it is about freedom in a very wide sense, foremost freedom of thought.
The Nationalist Party fought for the freedom to congregate, communicate, print your own material and broadcast your own message.
The Labour Party banned the publication of the words ‘Malta’ and ‘nation’. It burnt down a printing house in 1979. In 2013, it wanted to arrest journalists and the Nationalist Party general secretary for writing articles it deemed offensive. It also wants to restrict journalists’ use of their mobile phones.
Liberalism is about the freedom to open your own business and run it as you best see fit. It is also about letting the market do its thing.
The Nationalist Party gave Malta a free market and gave Maltese businesses a market of 27 EU countries.
The Labour Party controlled prices, restricted imports and distorted the market in every possible way.
Liberalism is about the freedom to get an education that you believe in. Under the Nationalist Party, state, religious and private schools all flourished. University was also inundated with students.
Under Labour, church schools were closed down, university was highly restricted and children were brainwashed with socialist group think.
Liberalism is about the freedom to worship. The only party which has ever mocked religious worship in Malta is the Labour Party.
Even when it comes to the edgy issues which Maltese people think about when they hear the word liberalism, the Labour Party scores spectacularly badly and definitely does no better than the Nationalist Party.
Divorce: It has been done and dusted and there’s no turning back so there’s not much to say about it. For whatever it’s worth, it was introduced under a Nationalist administration.
Same-sex marriage: In my opinion, gays in Malta are being short-changed by Joseph Muscat. With a nine seat majority and wind in his sails, he could have easily introduced gay marriage in his first year in office.
The boat for civil partnerships has long sailed. At this point in time, Maltese gays should have demanded nothing less than marriage. Spain did it. France did it. New Zealand did. Britain is planning to do it. Why not Malta?
With civil partnerships in place, gays will be seen as accommodated to. Years will pass before full, equal marriage for homosexuals will even be discussed. With the current wave of countries legalising same-sex marriages, now would have been the time to just get it over and done with.
Oh, but I almost forgot, Joseph Muscat has repeatedly said in public that he is against gay marriage. This is something Nationalist Party leaders have never said publicly. So it turns out that the supposedly liberal party is offering gays nothing better than the Nationalist Party on this issue.
Abortion: There currently seems to be broad consensus in Malta that Malta does not want the introduction of legal abortion.
Euthanasia: This goes the same way as abortion.
Drugs: Joseph Muscat thinks that not wearing an undervest to school is wild. What are the chances of him decriminalising drug use?
So there you have it. Whether it’s liberalism in the wider sense of the word or liberalism in the narrow sense of sex, drugs and death, either the Nationalist Party beats the Labour Party hands down or the Labour Party has exactly the same position as the Nationalist Party.
The Labour Party’s only claim to liberalism is the decriminalisation of sodomy forty years ago, which is hardly as earth shattering as Kenneth Zammit Tabona makes it out to be.
The Nationalist Party should stop beating itself up over not being liberal enough. Yes, choosing to come out against divorce as a party was a mistake but that doesn’t mean that the Nationalist Party is not liberal.
In modern history (since Giorgio Borg Olivier), the Nationalist Party has definitely been the most forward thinking, liberal party in Malta. The Labour Party was so conservative that it was against independence too.
Labour fed the sentence ‘The Nationalist Party is a confessional party.’ into the system and now everyone, even Nationalist Party members, is repeating it.
Joseph Muscat has just put a Muslim in his office to hear Muslims’ confessions.
No matter how you look at it, there’s only one deeply confessional and conservative party in Malta and it’s, believe it or not, the Labour Party.
The Nationalist Party on the other hand is largely liberal and with Simon Busuttil as leader, even more so than before.
I quite agree, and that first line you wrote had got me rather worried. With a new leader and increasing talk of ‘not looking back’, I’m worried the PN will simply become ‘more liberal’ for its own sake (and the sake of future electons) and forget that it should have core values.
It would be shame if this were to happen as a result of beleiving all that Labour was saying, despite the fact that this election was not lost by the PN on the basis of their values and/or ideology.
The Maltese have got it all wrong, and it fills me with a horrid trepidation, if I may crib Martin Scicluna’s phrase.
The liberalism vs conservatism divide has been framed – following our time-worn tradition – in ethical terms. As if politics were the art of governing one’s soul. Politics is about organising society. The law of large numbers, not the law of Man before God.
The upshot of it all is that we fret over things like gay marriage, the legal status of a blastocyte or the appropriate funeral ceremony for a dog, and we forget about the greatest conundrum of all: the social contract. The economy, stupid. Everyone’s a liberal on individual freedoms, but woe betide the man who as much as whispers of economic liberalism. Or cultural liberalism, for that matter.
They say Malta has two left-wing parties, and that the PN is the more socialist of the two. Simon Busuttil has his job cut out for him. But I’m afraid it will just be more of the same socialist rot. Fat lot of good will fehmiet bazici do us when we’re wading in some paddy field getting flogged by a Chinese overseer
That’s easy Baxxter, the social contract, according to most Maltese, is either forced equality, in monetary terms of course, or a free-for-all.
Liberalism remains, to most, either undemocratic (mhix fier) or plain abuse of any civic aspect.
You, Tim Ripard, Matthew S and Harry need to send me a three-pager on a liberal economic policy for Malta. I’ll put it together in a nice, tight volume. Let’s show the PN how it’s done.
Three pager? Three words are enough: get to work.
La Redoute, it’s actually two words. Inhallukom tahdmu.
I get your point, but this time it’s not witty repartee. I’m dead serious. We liberals need to get together. Teach those prigs a thing or two about social justice.
I agree with you Matthew. The PN should have done more about the censorship laws.
If Dr Gonzi had his was, divorce would not have been introduced in Malta.
Despite this the PN is tolerant and inclusive. The PL had to ghettoise gays by creating the LGBT group within its party.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/1-017-students-reject-religion-classes-20130512
“The new government is committed to introducing instruction in ethics for the primary and secondary school students who are currently exempted from participating in religion classes.”
No further comment is needed.
Obscene is not a synonym for liberal.
This is the definition of being a Catholic for many Maltese. Showing off during the festa, sitting in the front row of the church during the feast pontifical mass, shaking hands with the Chaplain in front of all and sundry (preferably whilst being filmed on TV), etc.
Loving all the pomp related to church liturgy without holding on to beliefs associated with being a Roman Catholic.
I have met foreign nationals, (from European countries where the faith is at its lowest ebb), whose faith and embodiment of Christ’s charisma, the Maltese people – for all our supposed religiousness – are not even close to emulating.
The Minister is practicising how to handle the beds and stretchers once the A&E of Mater Dei hits a true emergency this coming winter.
Well that is the Maltese version of Roman Catholicism for you. It’s a buffet table with certain parishes/parish priests that make you feel like an outcast at every chance they have whilst with others it’s a close your eyes, ears and mouth situation.
Whilst this person is parading to probably show his constituents how down to earth he is, and that’s his choice, the parish priest should have pulled him aside and said, listen up matey, this is not on.
However, once again the Maltese clergy are not above politics, it seems. It would be so nice to receive an official clarification from the Curia on this. Perhaps they’ll say they have nothing to do with the feast and its organisation.
What has to be seen is whether the minister for health still exercises his skills in pyrotechnics.
Bit risky for government, that.
You mean massive bangs and all that?
Kemm hu bsahhtu il-ministru tas-sahha.
No wonder the no one takes the Catholic Church seriously anymore.
Bin-nies tad-dinja jidhaq, imma b’Alla ma tidhaqx.
What a sham see-through imposter….anything to win sympathy and votes…come on Godfrey, let`s all cry together now….
And do you think that he did this because he is religious?
He carried the statue just for the sake of being there for all to see and his constituents would say: “Avolja sar ministru, refa’ l-istatwa ta’! Kemm hu umli miskin”.
U Dr Godfrey jitbissem qisu ghamel xi haga kbira. Xi dwejjaq ta’ nies u x’mentalita’ bazwija.
They may have mocked Tonio Fenech then but they didn’t mock him this evening in parliament. He was brilliant.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/…/minister-confirms-appeals-board-for-power-purc...
If anyone wants to talk religion then quote the Founder not the follower.
‘It is not he who calls me Lord, Lord, that will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven’
As you rightly pointed out, he is publicly living in a state of mortal sin and as a consequence the church should take action and prevent this from happening once again.
Read about the stand taken by Pope Francis in this article: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350515?eng=y