I would like to express my utter disgust at the cartoon carried in The Sunday Times on November 7, which depicted Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo in an unbecoming manner.

I admire Mgr Grech, who is one of the few who are not afraid to proclaim the Catholic Church’s values. Unfortunately the media try to ridicule those who profess their Christian beliefs.

Today many try to compromise on the Church’s teaching in order to accommodate ‘modern’ sexual behaviour. However, there is nothing modern about lust, since this has always been with us.

Catholic schools in Malta must not only concentrate on the academic aspect of education but also impart Catholic values to their students. This mission should become more evident as our nation becomes more secular.

In his homily during Mass for the consecration of the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, the Pope said that “one of the most important tasks today is to overcome the split between human conscience and Christian conscience, between existence in this temporal world and openness to an eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as Beauty”.

This message holds true not only for Spain but also for post-Catholic Malta.