Maturity in dialogue on sensitive matters

Last Tuesday, February 9, I was attending Mass, and during the homily the priest stressed on the importance of defending the Church in Malta as it is being attacked from all sides on matters relating to divorce, abortion and euthanasia, which is leading to having many Maltese abandoning the teachings of the Catholic Church and turning to other teachings and ideologies.

Such a statement sent shivers down my spine.

The Catholic Church in Malta has every right to voice its opinions and concerns on any matter it deems fit.

Likewise, any other organisation including the Labour Party and its leader.

Having said that, my appeal is that the argumentation on sensitive matters like divorce be dealt with in a mature, calm and constructive manner that reflects the fact that Malta is an EU member country living in the 21st century. Confrontation of ideologies, beliefs and perceptions has to be kept within the parameters of a democratic dialogue, whereby human dignity is not lost.

The scars of past mistakes, whereby the clash of ideologies was allowed to escalate regardless of human dignity, between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party, have hardly healed completely.

We surely cannot afford a repeat.