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Church refuses to enter EU debate
- but urges political leaders to ‘put their heads together’

The Curia is sticking to its guns by refusing to enter the argument of whether Malta should become a full member of the European Union, despite a rekindled call made by ‘Iva’ spokeswoman, Joanna Drake, for it to do so.

But although the Church has refused to be drawn into the EU debate, its spokesman, Charles Buttigieg, yesterday admitted the Curia would like to see both political parties step up their efforts to find some common ground on certain aspects of the issue and move forward together where possible, for the country’s benefit.

Pressure has been mounting on the Church to declare where it stands on the EU issue, although there has also been concern voiced that this would not be a wise course of action.
Dr Drake’s call, made in the form of a letter which appeared in the press last week, reiterated ‘Iva’s’ belief that all organisations should make public their stand on the EU. And just two weeks ago, the Prime Minister also said he expected the Church to take a "prudent" stance on the issue.

But Labour leader Alfred Sant pointed out that any stand taken by the Church would mean it was only representing about half the population. Some other observers have also recalled the consequences of what happened in the past when the Church got drawn into a political situation.

Although Mr Buttigieg told MaltaToday that the Curia was holding fast and refusing to enter into the EU fray at present, he did touch on the controversial issue of the lack of political consensus.

"The Church respects the divergent positions of the two main political parties," he said. "At the same time, the Church invites both political parties to put their heads together to identify those points on which they agree and to genuinely and effectively seek solutions on the rest in the best interest of the whole population of these islands."

But other than that, it appears that the Curia will be remaining tight-lipped where the EU is concerned.

Mr Buttigieg reiterated the much-published statement that the Church believes the future relationship Malta builds with the EU is fundamentally a political decision.

The statement reads: "In this contest, we, the Bishops, repeat that it is not our intention to take a position on whether Malta should join the European Union or not, or what form of political and economic relationship there should be between Malta and the Union."

It also stresses that the Bishops are not avoiding taking a stand because they want to shirk their responsibilities, but because they believe this is not within the competence of the Church.

"This is a decision which has to respect the free and sovereign choice of the people, as expressed through the democratic process which we exercise in our country," the statement says.