Having worked very closely with Fr Charles, as Mgr Charles Vella is popularly known, particularly in the field of radio and TV (remember Djalogu?), I was not at all surprised by the way he expressed himself on so many topics in the interview. I have always admired him not only for his creative mind and energy but also his great sincerity.

However, I must say that I could not agree with him on the question of divorce. As Fr Charles knows far better than I do, the question of divorce is a social as well as a moral issue and therefore citizens - common citizens - have a right to be consulted on such a vital issue as the "dissolution" of marriage by the State.

If the majority feel that divorce will threaten (not to say destroy) marriage as God wanted it to be "from the beginning", people should be given the opportunity to express their disapproval or otherwise of its introduction. Referendums are held on matters of far less importance to the well-being of society, so why shouldn't a referendum be held on an issue which is bound to have a long-lasting effect on Maltese society?

I share with Mgr Vella his sympathy and support for cohabiting couples who cannot enter into a second marriage after realising that they had made a mistake when they entered the first one. But will divorce solve their problem? Has divorce eradicated cohabitation? Mgr Vella himself said that in Milan "there are more civil marriages and more cohabiting couples than families..." The same can be said for the rest of the world where divorce has been legalised for many decades, if not centuries.

Therefore, how can the introduction of divorce in Malta eliminate cohabitation? It may solve the problem of those (not all) who are at present cohabiting and who sincerely want to be given a second chance, but it will definitely not eliminate cohabitation. The opposite will happen.

Les us all - Church and State - by all means do all we can to improve the preparation courses for marriage (we can start at primary school level). But let us learn from the rest of the world what divorce has done to the family and to society in general. We would indeed be foolish if we did not.