Bishops warn against responding to violence with violence

The Bishops have warned against resorting to more violence as Europe and the rest of the world come to terms with the terrorist attacks and atrocities carried out by extremists.

In today’s pastoral letter marking the start of the yearlong jubilee dedicated to the theme of mercy, they emphasised that mankind needs to be sheltered from everything which threatens life and liberty.

But the Maltese Bishops said that terrorism cannot be defeated with more violence.

Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris and the subsequent escalation of military action against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the leaders of the Church in Malta said that “to forgive our enemies is an expression of mercy”.

Calling for reconciliation, they said “we are terrified to hear that these horrible acts are carried out in the name of God. As Pope Francis stated, to resort to violence, to kill innocent people in God’s name, is blasphemy.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech added that in the face of the violence, in the face of injustice, in the face of terrorism, God “empowers us not to respond using the same language.

“With his help, we are empowered to resist the temptation to respond to violence with violence, the temptation to take revenge for any damages that are incurred.”

The Bishops also stressed that the Jubilee should highlight “all the sufferings which immigrants face, many of whom arrive on our shores and others who arrive on other Mediterranean shores.”

They said refugees reaching Europe “have walked the road of Calvary” and should be welcomed with open arms.

“As your shepherds, we wish to state clearly that if someone speaks out with racist or hateful sentiments, this goes against our beliefs. Let anyone who insults or speaks with contempt about these people, convert!”

They also called upon believers to safeguard society’s “most weak and vulnerable”, starting with the protection of “the human person from the moment of conception”.

The Bishops said “we must do our utmost to safeguard life from the very beginning, from the first eight weeks when the human being is an embryo”, in a clear reference to the proposed amendments to the Embryo Protection Act, which could reintroduce embryo freezing technology in IVF procedures after this was banned in 2012.

The Bishops, who are against the proposed changes, insisted that after eight weeks the embryo “carries a different name, but it remains one and the same human being that, when born, is legally recognised as a person”.

They added that the law protects the human being from the moment of his or her existence; and “the law must also be an expression of mercy that safeguards human life, giving particular attention to those that are most vulnerable and therefore require greater protection.”