Revising the lexicon

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According to Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna, the Pope is shocked by Malta's Civil Unions Bill allowing gay adoption. Clearly the Maltese Curia is all in a dudgeon because the stigma associated with homosexuality is slowly fading away and gay couples are finally gaining rights that have been denied them for a long time.

We of course have only Scicluna's word that the Pope was thus startled - I bet that Bishop Scicluna has overstated the case somewhat, not realising that his statement would be picked up by news agencies worldwide. After all it was just six months ago that Pope Francis stated, when questioned about the Church's stand on homosexuality - "When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalised. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem ... they're our brothers."

This statement indicates that the new Pope is in fact more open-minded and less judgemental about homosexuals and their rights than Bishop Scicluna would have us believe. I am inclined to think that our good bishop was projecting somewhat, when it comes to interpreting the Pope's reactions.

It is clear that the Maltese Church has emerged from the divorce trauma and is once again keen to find a cause to make a fuss about. Now that the divorce ship has sailed and men and women whose marriages are dead can sort out their legal affairs, it is clear that a new cause celebre needs to be found... and here it is. We are now in the era of definitions.

There are several causes that could capture the Bishops' imagination. They could take a leaf out of the Pope's book and preach about Syria, or the tragedies that are unfolding in the Mediterranean sea as refugees try to make their way to freedom. They could stand on the pulpit and fulminate about the unfairness of a society where the rich get richer while the poor get poorer... But no. No, what gets their goat is the definition of marriage.

A marriage is the union of a man and a woman, while a family is formed when a man and a woman "become one" (so very poetic) and make lots of babies. The more the better.

According to news reports the Bishops regaled the faithful with a rather engineered version of the nativity story. God the father was so concerned about the fact that his son had to have a male role model that he brought Joseph into the picture, to father the son that Mary conceived miraculously and without any need of sperm.

As I read the article about the homily I felt sad. Sad that our bishops are so out of touch with the realities of modern life that they felt it necessary to insult and hurt all those who do not match a very stereotypical model of what a family should be. Did the bishop stop to think about single mothers listening to the sermon, or even single fathers, for the matter. Did he wonder how adopted children would feel as they heard him rant and rave about the importance of the sexual act when it came to forming families? Did he think about children born of IVF?

I bet he did not spare them a single thought.

In a nutshell, according to Bishop Scicluna, a family is only a family if it is made up of a man and a woman and children conceived the good old-fashioned way. Any other combination or permutation need not apply.

I guess we should come up with new words now - a single mum with kids could be called a 'mumily' and a single dad with offspring a 'dadily'. We could also have a new word for gay couples with children - perhaps 'gamily' will do the trick?

We can then categorise everyone according to gender and mode of conception and get it over and done with. There will be no need for Bishop Scicluna to rant and rave about the definition of a family. He can shriek about mumilies and dadilies and gamilies instead.

The only positive thing in all this is that the louder the bishops holler, the less people are paying attention. Much as the villagers no longer believed the boy who cried wolf, the Maltese are starting to realise that hell and damnation are in fact not a stone's throw away, and that allowing people freedom is not leading to the fires of hell.

It is indeed unfortunate that our Curia is wasting the ever-diminishing attention span of its congregation on such pointless tirades.

Claudine Cassar is the Executive Chairman of the Alert Group of Companies - www.alertgroup.com.mt

More from Claudine Cassar

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First of all the Church must repent clerical child abuse and give financial compensation to the victims of clerical child abuse. The Church has lost every right to speak about relevant issues after protecting Catholic priests and cover up clerical child abuse in many countries. This is so shameful and therefore the Church shall first start a deep going reform and going back to the roots. But I think that is not possible. A Church which has lost all credibility and reputation should be silent and ask the public for forgiveness and bring about reforms. The Catholic Church cannot stop the Civil Unions Bill in Malta, one only need to think of the referendum on divorce. The Church has become a sect in many European countries and the people are indifferent towards the Church. What one hears are bad news coming out from the Vatican, scandal after scandal. I think this Church has nothing to do with JESUS. Even the Church must realise that a majority does not listen to what the Church is preaching. After all the scandals and a language applied , the Church lost its impact on people. But clerical child abuse that took place many decades destroyed the credibility and reputation of the Church . Bishop Scicluna is raising and raising his voice, but the question is, has he ever studied all the relevant scientific studies on same-sex marriage and the adoption of children by gay couples? I doubt deeply that he has read some of the most important studies like one of the American Psychiatric Association The Church must serve the poor and must be humble and honest and going back to the roots and repent and repent, perhaps then a new beginning for the Church is possible.

Tony Borg •

I believe I watched you on TV last night and was impressed by your solid argument in connection with subject of adoption rights by gay couples. Maybe also because your opinion reflects mine to perfection in that the rights of children should be first and foremost (perhaps exclusively so) in any consideration on the matter. A breath of truly fresh breath of air on such a delicate subject...hopefully more of you on other equally important ones

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"It is indeed unfortunate that our Curia is wasting the ever-diminishing attention span of its congregation on such pointless tirades." I really don't agree with this point, the more crap the church comes up with, the better it is for society. Some people might take them seriously at first but at the end they will be treated how they always should have been, with ridicule.

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Great article! Thank you for your insights!

Revising the lexicon

It’s sad that our bishops are so out of touch with the realities of modern life that they felt it necessary to insult and hurt all those who do not agree with them.