Well, there’s another No vote from Charles Scicluna
Published:
January 23, 2015 at 11:36am
At least the Nationalist Party leader can now claim that he is not toeing the line of the Catholic hierarchy, voting with the bishops and so on – an accusation that was levelled at his predecessors, though of course on matters of church dogma.
15 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150123/local/church-should-not-take-position-on-referendum-but-its-against-hunting-during-breeding-season-bishop-charles-scicluna.552980
I love what Bishop Scicluna did there. He took the exact same approach as the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader (“My organisation is not taking a position, but I’m voting No/Yes”), thereby neutralising any criticism that may (will) follow his declaration.
The Catholic Church takes a stand on so many issues including how its faithful should procreate. When it then comes to saving “God’s green earth”, it provides no direction whatsoever.
That said, I am glad that Monsignor Scicluna made a clear and explicit statement of his personal view. I hope his statement is taken to heart.
“I hope his statement is taken to heart.” No, it won’t, unfortunately.
The Church has been painted in so dark colours by all and sundry (not least by the Lejber party and its front organisations) that very few will ‘take it to heart’, even if the majority still attend Sunday Mass.
Again unfortunately, to a large extent, the Church is as relevant as Franco Debono or JPO(S) — with or without apology for the comparison.
Amen to that.
Those same people who used to attack the Catholic Church because it did not speak in defence of the conservation of nature will now say that it should not speak about the conservation of nature.
Paint me stupid, but isn’t the referendum about banning hunting during the breeding season? So how can the Catholic Church claim it does not have a position on the referendum?
Put it down to sophistry and mental acrobatics.
Everybody wants to not take a position while taking one at the same time.
You do what you have to do to try and remain popular with everyone, I guess.
I suppose one can always use religion to justify one’s argument.
The hunting lobby (and not only) can quote the Bible that God made man the master of creation: ‘God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen. I: 28
Environmentalists and their liberal bedfellows will argue that the above is not absolute: earth domination has to be carried out responsibly. This too is part of the Church’s official social teaching.
Taking such issues from a narrowly religious perspective will lead you nowhere.
I think Bishop Scicluna has been misquoted here. I heard him say that he has not discussed the matter with Bishop Mario Grech, he does not think the church will take a position, but that he himself is against spring hunting.
[Daphne – That is exactly what the report says.]
It seems that with some people the Roman Catholic Church is the only organization which does not and should not have the right of freedom of expression.
Some still advocate Mintoff’s declaration that it should restrict itself to the sacristy.
The Roman Catholic Church and its individual members have as much freedom of expression as any other organization or individual. If anybody wants to deny that freedom because of.the influence the Church has on a section of the population, then the same should apply to the head of state, political party leaders, workers unions, etc.
I was in Romania during the recent presidential election and heard priests advising their flocks to vote for the candidates who held Christian values.
The reference was obvious, even to an outsider like me. There were no protests, no attempt to push the Church back into the sacristy. I could not help wondering what would have happened if this was done in Malta.
Well said .
Ghaliex in-nies m’humiex kapaci jiddistingwixxu kacca fir-rebbiegha minn kaxxa fil-harifa?
Hadd ma qalilhom lill-kaccaturi li se tinqatalhom fil-harifa. Min se jivvota le, se jkun qed jivvota biex jghati cans lill-ghasafar jitkattru. Dak kollox.
X’injoranza ta’ nies hawn f’Malta.
I still think that Simon Busuttil rushed when he declared his support to the spring hunting derogation.
The hunters have a lot of questions to answer about their relation with the Labour Party before and after the general election.
If there were no satisfactory answers from the hunters, Busuttil shouldn’t have supported them.
The Church is duty bound to take a position on the referendum. The Sinodu Djocesan document Kultura – Socjeta;- Knisja in page 52 states the following:
Bħal kull ħidma favur il-ġustizzja, il-ħidma għall-ħarsien ta’ l-ambjent hija waħda li titlob ħafna kuraġġ u perseveranza. Il-Knisja ma għandha taqta’ qatt qalbha f’din il-ħidma anzi trid tkompli twieżen lil dawk kollha li qed jaħdmu biex il-ġenerazzjonijiet futuri jkollhom tama għall-ġejjieni tagħhom u ta’ wliedhom.
http://www.laikos.org/KulturaSocjetaKnisja.pdf