Yesterday's chilly weather did not stop hundreds of people from flocking to Zejtun for the celebration of the feast of Christ the King.

President Eddie Fenech Adami and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi were present among the congregation, which was addressed by the Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca.

Mgr Mercieca pointed out that religious indifference was becoming widespread, and he feared that it could eventually lead to the increase of "practical atheism".

He said the number of people who went to church regularly was on the decline, while a number of people attended Sunday Mass but did not feel they should follow the Church's teachings and morals.

Civil marriages between Catholics were not marriages in the eyes of God and the Church, he said. But some people who were married civilly still received Communion, against the Church's teachings.

And he lamented: "Loyalty in marriage is getting weaker."

The Archbishop felt that although those who admitted to being non-believers were few, a lot of people said they were believers but did not translate this into the way they lived.

"This religious indifference is a recent phenomenon, and is the biggest challenge that the Church has to face," he said. It was leaving a negative effect on the family, which was also undergoing some drastic changes.

"I feel that the family has lost a lot of its educative capability, such as teaching children about God and teaching them that God loves young children," he said.

The family's capacity to educate was being lost because the mass media had replaced parents as educators.

The Archbishop also noted that the European Union's Constitution did not mention the family built on marriage between a man and a woman until death separated them. "The family is not mentioned as a basic cell of society."

The feast of Christ the King was first celebrated in 1925 and the aim was to publicly proclaim that Christ was king above all other authority.

This year's theme for the feast was Looking Ahead with Courage together with Christ the Lord and was chosen in the light of the work being carried out to put into practice the Diocesan Synod's proposals.

In his message for the feast, Gozo bishop Nikol Cauchi said that while celebrating this feast it should be kept in mind that this year had been declared by the Pope as the Year of the Eucharist. Christ reigned from his throne in heaven and from the Eucharist.

Mgr Cauchi noted that adoration was the first thing humans did when they acknowledged that they were created by God.