I was intrigued by what my old student Simon Micallef Stafrace wrote in The Sunday Times on June 12.

He is commenting on what Eddie Fenech Adami stated, namely that “moral issues should not be decided on the principles of democratic majorities but rather on the principle of what is morally right”.

On this Dr Micallef Straface comments:

“Herein lies the million dollar question: what is morally right? Are the Taliban morally right? Is Communism morally right? Was Archbishop Michael Gonzi morally right in the Sixties? Is Joseph Muscat morally right?”

A million dollars is quite a temptation, so here is my attempt to answer those questions: The Taliban follow the moral code of Islam. Communism had its own moral code encapsulated in the maxim that everything is justified for the good of the cause. Mgr Gonzi followed the Catholic moral code. I stumble on the last question as I cannot presume to know which moral code Dr Muscat favours.

Each one of us is free to adopt one code of morals or another. Our choice should be based on what moral code each considers to be the best to regulate and conduct our lives. Clearly the different moral codes are not equally valid. They can be weighted according to the values they approve. I for one consider that the Catholic moral code is the best; I have tried to study as much as possible different codes in order to regulate and conduct my life – in the daily challenges of what to do between what is good and what is evil, and therefore inferior behaviour.

I hope that I have answered Dr Micallef Stafrace’s problem, or at least given him the opportunity to work out an answer from here.