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I refer to two features that appeared in last Sunday’s edition of MaltaToday concerning the message by the Maltese bishops on choosing representatives for the European Parliament. Kindly allow me to make a few remarks.
It is customary that prior to a General Election the bishops issue a Pastoral Letter addressed to Catholics. The Message issued for the EP elections falls within this pattern except for the fact that it is not a Pastoral Letter and was not, therefore, read in churches during Mass, as is the case with all Pastoral Letters.
The Maltese bishops’ message reflects the Statement issued by the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE) on May 10 entitled ‘An opportunity to make our values real’ where the bishops of the EU member states invited EU citizens to ask candidates a series of questions as to where they stand on certain issues: respect for life (including abortion and euthanasia), safeguarding creation, the common good, support for the family, education, culture and youth, welcoming strangers, peace, security and freedom, justice for the world’s poor, honesty in public life, unity in diversity through subsidiarity, dialogue with religions, and the Christian heritage of Europe.
The Maltese bishops are not the only bishops in the EU Member States to have issued a statement in view of the EP elections. I can mention at least three other bishops’ conferences – those in Germany, the Netherlands, England and Wales.
In no way, therefore, are the Maltese bishops trying to be more Catholic than the Pope! They are merely exercising a constitutionally enshrined right and their duty as pastors of the Churches in Malta and Gozo in much the same manner that other bishops do so in other modern and democratic EU States.
Fr Vanni Xuereb
President
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