Gozo Bishop Mario Grech insisted the Church was not interested in gaining any “political or cultural hegemony”, and was only driven by the certainty that Christ was the cornerstone of every human edifice.

“It is our mission as Christians to try and carve in the nation’s history the Christian truth... Let us not allow anybody to intimidate us or try to silence us,” he said.

His words come just one week after retired judge Philip Sciberras said the Church’s campaign against divorce was motivated by financial considerations because it stood to “lose its hegemony” on marriage annulments.

In his homily to mark the feast of St George last Friday, Mgr Grech said that unfortunately Malta’s thinkers were convinced true progress meant God should be silenced.

“For some it seems that those who believe in God are people without a brain who have nothing to contribute to the public discussion,” he said, stressing it was a Christian’s duty to contribute to ensure an alliance between reason and faith. Mgr Grech lamented there were those who tried to justify Christians not being given a voice because they did not want a theocratic state.

“Whoever thinks this, has not realised that... in the Second Vatican Council, the Church teaches there should be separation between state and Church,” he said.

“While we agree it should not be a confessional state, there will be serious trouble if we have an atheist state.”