Mark Montebello breaks silence with hit-list of Church’s pressure on believers

The outspoken Dominican friar Fr Mark Montebello has broken his silence in a blogpost on the Church’s role in the divorce referendum campaign, in which he confesses being “humiliated over and over again by the injudicious behaviour of the local Catholic Church in general and of some Catholics in particular.”

Montebello – whose radical views led to the Maltese Archbishop calling on his Dominican superior in Rome to temper the friar’s outspokenness – speaks of his “spiritual and psychological anguish” in writing about the Church’s “stealthy” and “immense pressure” it has placed on people’s consciences.

“Children were frequently used for emotional impact. Religious celebrations, including weddings, were routinely exploited for political propagandistic purposes. The alleged Virgin Mary of Borg in-Nadur was made to campaign with anathemas and threats of her own (with flyers saying as much placed at church entrances). All sorts of printed material were sent to households through parish structures to influence the electorate."

Montebello said people were consistently told that divorce would open the door to abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriages, and increase poverty. "Some were scared into believing that the referendum is part of a sinister ploy to ultimately destroy the Church in Malta and Gozo. Pseudo-religious emails were sent with words and pictures verging on hate-messages."

“Many simple and vulnerable Catholics were repeatedly told (in door-to-door visits, in private conversations or in confession) that voting ‘yes’ or not voting at all would be a grave offence to God. Pressure groups were set up presenting those in favour of the ‘yes’ vote as antichrists or false Christians.

“People were denied Holy Communion or absolution of sins for declaring their ‘yes’ vote. Unusual prayer meetings and live-ins by religious groups were organised to insist on the ‘no’ vote. The head of the pro-divorce main lobby group was banned from practicing at the ecclesiastical tribunals. Members of religious lay groups were told by their spiritual directors that they would have to leave if they voted ‘yes’ or not at all. Posters similar to those of the 1960s were put up at church doors. Partisan politicians were left to make religious arguments without impunity.”

Montebello’s short blog ended with an imploration for forgiveness as a minister of the Catholic Church which he said “was not the Church I believe in and love.”

“My fellow citizens, I am truly mortified by such disrespect and insolence shown to your intelligence and rights as human beings. If you consider me part of this, as I truly am, then I genuinely think and feel that it is my moral duty to implore your forgiveness. For this I will be most grateful.”