All those who “cooperate” in the introduction of divorce, including judges who apply the law, would be “committing a grave sin”, according to the head of the Church tribunals.
The tribunals examine petitions for marriage annulments.
The warning was made during Mass marking the start of the forensic year by Judicial Vicar Mgr Arthur Said Pullicino, who said the Church did not have to discuss anything related to divorce because Christ’s teachings on marriage were clear.
“All the Church has to do is teach that whoever cooperates in any way in the introduction of divorce, who applies the law and who seeks recourse to it, though not the innocent party, would be breaking God’s law and so would be committing a grave sin,” Mgr Said Pullicino warned.
He called on members of the judiciary and lawyers to desist from taking part in divorce proceedings and be conscientious objectors.
Mgr Said Pullicino’s strong words are the first from a high-ranking Church official to target the judiciary’s moral responsibility if they were to preside over cases of divorce if this became law.
The use of the word “sin” seems to conflict with the more measured approach adopted by the bishops in the wake of another controversy sparked by another high ranking Church official a couple of months ago. Mgr Anton Gouder had said it was a sin for a Catholic to vote for divorce in a referendum.
When contacted yesterday, Mgr Said Pullicino stood by his comments, insisting they were Christ’s words not his.
“The Archbishop cannot say anything different from what I am saying. He cannot approve of something that goes against God’s law,” he said.
When asked whether what he was asking judges and lawyers to do interfered with the course of justice, Mgr Said Pullicino insisted justice could not go against God’s law.
“A lawyer who takes up the case of somebody who files for divorce, the guilty partner, cannot do it. He would be going against God’s law. On the other hand, the lawyer who takes up the case of the innocent party is doing nothing wrong,” he explained.
Mgr Said Pullicino said God’s law applied to everybody not only Christians.
It would be wrong even for “two pagans from the bush in Africa” who got married to divorce because it went against God’s law, he added.
In his homily, Mgr Said Pullicino described secularism as today’s central problem because God was put aside in the belief that people could be “auto-sufficient”.
He said the justice system across Europe was faced with situations where it had to decide on matters that went against God’s law because civil laws violated the “fundamental principles of divine natural law” on subjects such as divorce, abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia.
“This is what happened in our society when the divorce discussion was rekindled. This is a situation that directly involves the administration of justice. This is the time when those who administer justice are obliged to make their voice heard in a clear way and invoke conscientious objection,” the Judicial Vicar said.
The full text of the homily can be accessed on the Church’s official website maltadiocese.org in the news section.