Last April, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne correctly said that the country was successful in changing the possible tsunami of COVID-19 into a controllable wave. He made that statement when the first wave was at its ebb. He had expressed the hope that instead of a second wave we would have a ripple. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
The second wave of COVID-19 is larger than the first wave. Many professional organisations blame the government’s rushed decisions for the current deplorable state of things.
The country – nay, the world – needs healing from the disastrous effects that this pandemic is wreaking. But the country urgently needs healing not just from the pandemic, though truth be said, the pandemic made some matters more urgent.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna, while delivering the homily during the Independence Day anniversary Mass, applied to the Maltese situation the seven principles outlined by Pope Francis when panning out his plan for healing the world.
Solidarity: the best healer
The kingpin of all the seven principles is solidarity, described by Francis as “taking care of one another, starting with the least, with those who are most impacted, including creation”.
Everything else flows from this principle. The principle of the common good, the option for the poor, the universal destinations of goods, subsidiarity, and so forth, all flow from solidarity.
The pandemic highlighted our interconnectedness. A virus invisible to the human eye developed in a far-away region brought all the world to its knees. Whether we like it or not, we truly are our brother’s keepers, particularly the vulnerable.
In his homily, Scicluna referred four times to migrants, refugees and foreigners. Faced by a rising tide of xenophobia he did well to do that. These are vulnerable people knocking on our shores. They are not the enemy but the ‘others’ who need our help. Pushing them back to a hell called Libya is neither civilised, nor Christian. Despicable comments online about these fellow human beings manifest either the hardened heart beating in the breasts of many Maltese or the intense irrational fear that results mostly from ignorance.
Whatever the reason, all this is one of the biggest pastoral problems facing the Church. If this wound is not urgently healed it will fester.
The principle of subsidiarity implies that we all share an important role within the state, and that an excessive centralisation of power in the hands of the few is not beneficial to society- Fr Joe Borg
The Independence Day homily preceded the announcement earlier last week of the proposed new policy on migration by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
The migration issue cried for solidarity among member states, but so far this solidarity has been found wanting, miserably wanting. One hopes that finally, there is light in this solidarity tunnel.
One of the strongest and most relevant paragraphs in the Archbishop’s homily speaks of subsidiarity, another founding pillar of the social teaching of the Church.
Scicluna says that the principle of subsidiarity implies that we all share an important role within the state, and that an excessive centralisation of power in the hands of the few is not beneficial to society.
Well said, as we all know what happened when political power was concentrated in the hands of a small gang at Castille.
No to yes-men
It is important that people in positions of responsibility deserve respect.
Scicluna quite rightly makes the proffering of respect dependent on an important condition: “these people are not chosen because they are ‘yes men’ or because they will always toe the line of the powers-that-be”.
The public inquiry investigating the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is showing us what a miserable state the country is in. Many who gave testimony do not deserve the respect that the Archbishop speaks of.
The three proverbial monkeys who see, speak or hear no evil would have made a better impression and showed a higher sense of public duty than was shown by many who were ordered to answer the questions of the board of inquiry. (It would be disastrous to democracy if the term of the inquiry would be truncated by the prime minister.) Many, including ministers, were very clearly only interested in their own personal survival plans, and to hell with the common good.
In view of what happened, Scicluna’s words on the common good as “a remedy for every kind of egoism which may contaminate and corrupt an authentic approach to politics” are very relevant.
During the homily, Scicluna used the word ‘conscience’ five times. He spoke of the need to respect the conscience of the individual.
This was the second occasion in a matter of a few days when the Archbishop referred to conscience.
In a statement with the two other bishops of these islands, the bishops expressed their concern that certain clauses in the Equality Bills have serious implications on the freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion of every individual.
The bishops are afraid that certain clauses of the Bill would force people to go against their conscience.
It is clear that COVID-19 is not the only virus causing havoc within our society.