Editorial: A valid issue, raised with clumsy words

Decades of secularisation and declining congregations mean modern Catholic leaders no longer command the influence of the past. Yet, the Church still has a vital role to play in protecting the marginalised and speaking up for the voiceless.

That responsibility was likely at the heart of the Gozo bishop’s intentions when he delivered a recent homily during mass dedicated to the blessing of babies in the womb.

As both a faith leader and a holder of a doctorate in educational sciences, it would be a mistake to dismiss outright Bishop Anton Teuma’s perspectives on early childcare.

His central concern, about whether placing children in childcare as very young babies is in the infant’s best interest, is a valid and serious question.

But for a message to resonate, particularly on such sensitive social issues, it must be communicated in a way that acknowledges the complexities of modern life.

On this, Bishop Teuma’s delivery fell short.

“If your baby is treated simply as an object, once they are two or three months old, they will be thrown into a childcare centre,” he told the congregation at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu.

“I will never stop condemning childcare centres until the age of two. This is not me saying this but psychologists with sense.”

In choosing such language, he appeared to target not a system that forces difficult choices on families but the parents themselves and the childcare centres helping them keep afloat.

He went further, criticising how parents were choosing material goals like a beautiful bedroom over time spent raising their young children.

“Money becomes our first priority. We want a beautiful bedroom, so we need a loan to be able to purchase it. We need to work. This child becomes an object, less important than this bedroom,” he said.

Perhaps, in a few cases, this is true. But for most families the realty is much more complex.

Many parents are not chasing luxuries but fighting to provide basic stability, including their financial obligations to meet home loan repayments. This is especially the case for single parents, the low paid and those who have little family support around them.

On the same day Bishop Teuma’s comments sparked a backlash, figures were released showing Malta’s minimum wage is among the lowest in Europe, at €994 per month.

For many families, free childcare is not a convenience but a necessity so they can provide basic financial stability. And, as a Central Bank study showed this week, it has been a pathway for women out of economic dependence.

The bishop lost an opportunity for the Church to engage meaningfully in a wider national conversation.

He could have questioned a system that prioritises the economy over family, leaving parents with little choice.

He could have started a conversation about whether the state is doing enough to support early caregiving at home through parental leave, flexible work or financial support.

He could, for example, have questioned why maternity leave at 18 weeks falls below what is offered by some other European countries like the UK, where parents can take up to a year.

Or why so many parents feel both must work to stay afloat. Or what’s driving Malta’s declining fertility rate.

Instead of inviting a deeper reflection on the sensitive and complex challenges of parenthood, the bishop’s use of language left many feeling judged.

The result was a backlash that, perhaps, overshadowed his intended message and left the Church open to familiar criticism of lacking relevance, credibility, or, in one parent’s words, being “out of touch”.