JPO: ‘Archbishop must be troubled by cleric’s imposition of morality’
MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando reacts to Mgr. Arthur Said Pullicino over remaks on 'morality' and 'moral sin' by leglislators, judiciary and lawyers when applying divorce law.
Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who has presented a Private Member’s Bill proposing the introduction of divorce has hinted at a ‘troubled Archbishop’ at the developing situation where high-ranking Curia officials are attempting to impose Catholic morality on the country’s legislators, judiciary and lawyers.
Reacting to last week’s homily by Judicial Vicar Mgr. Arthur Said Pullicino, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando told MaltaToday that although the head of the Church tribunals has every right to his opinion and “every right to try to convince us that his opinion is the right one for our country, he has no right - in fact he is probably breaking the law - when he tries to force this European country's legislators, judiciary and members of the legal profession, to bow their head to his opinion under the threat of mortal sin.”
The PN MP added: “I am sure that the Archbishop - whom I know to be a reasonable and humane man - must be troubled by the situation.”
“High ranking members of the clergy such as Mgr. Gouder and Mgr. Said Pullicino must surely realise that the wounds of the politico-religious feud of the 1960’s are still not fully healed and that they are scratching at the scabs that are still present.”
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando expressed his conviction that his Private Member’s Bill will not be shelved, adding that that his fellow MPs “will not harden their hearts to the pain that a sizable proportion of the society they represent is feeling.”
Referring to a recent ‘Discern Institute’ study commissioned by the Church that revealed 35,000 people will suffer marriage breakdowns by 2015, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando stressed that “if Malta's legislators fail to take the bull by the horns, we are moving towards a chaotic situation on our islands.”
Most of these individuals will understandably seek and find new partners, he said, stressing that “no government in its right senses would discourage those amongst them who would like to formalise their second relationship contractually by marriage.”
“It is unjust and nonsensical to force them to enter into cohabiting relationships because the possibility of re-marriage is not available, unless they manage to get a divorce from a foreign country,” Pullicino Orlando said..
