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Karl Schembri
Rebel friar Mark Montebello’s six months of censorship imposed by the Archbishop came to an end last Thursday with an observation he shared with MaltaToday: “The new Pope is nothing special but not as bad I thought”.
Not that he was really dead silent throughout the last months, but it is a great leap forward since describing Ratzinger as “a sick joke” on the morrow of his election as God’s vicar six months ago, the same comment which earned Fr Mark the official ban for the second time in his priesthood prohibiting him from discussing publicly controversial ethical and moral issues like abortion, gay marriages and the pope. Now he says he is getting “good vibes” from the Vatican.
The Dominican friar’s silence was anything but golden in the last six months. In fact there was barely any silence from his part.
“I did speak, but not as much as I wished to,” he says candidly.
Just after being censored, he gave an interview to MaltaToday in May reiterating his “sick joke” statement about Pope Benedict XVI.
“There were moments when I felt I had to speak out, not just about negative things, even to comment positively,” he says now that the ban is officially lifted.
One moment that proved irresistible to his vow of silence was in reaction to the wave of racial hatred that escalated this summer. He went on a one-man peaceful counter-protest in the capital city against the ultra-right wing demonstration organised by Alleanza Nazzjonali Repubblikana (ANR), to be stopped by the police from just holding an anti-racist message as he sat silently on a wall, while some demonstrators tried to lynch him.
“It was difficult to remain silent in front of ANR’s self-branding as Catholics when they were going against the gospels, even against the Vatican Council II,” Fr Mark said.
In fact he did not remain silent, to the extent that he appeared on Xarabank calling ANR fascists and battling a racist TV mob, who in turn threatened to sue him for libel although so far they haven’t.
“I was very happy to read about the Jesuits’ stand against racism,” Fr Mark says of the Jesuits’ campaign launched last week against xenophobia. “What they said is very, very good. We need to talk more against racism and against ANR’s statements. The Church needs to take the initiative, something it is not doing right now.
About his Dominican brothers’ reaction to his quarrel with Archbishop Guzeppi Mercieca, Fr Mark says some showed him solidarity, “others had mixed feelings or told me to stay out of trouble.”
But he says he sees his six-month ban as part and parcel of the Church’s development since Pope Ratzinger’s election. In fact, his words about the pope now have nothing of his inflammatory initial evaluation.
“Initially it seemed like a sick joke. The situation is still unclear, but the ultra-conservatives who were shouting victory in the first days of Ratzinger’s papacy have now calmed down. I doubt whether they still think they are exclusively authentic and true Catholics. Ratzinger definitely did not give them the support that his predecessor gave them. He didn’t do anything special, he took no initiatives, but he has shown he is a very intelligent man who consciously refuses to build the personality cult, as the previous pope did.”
An avid critic of Pope John Paul II, Fr Mark says he was pleased by Ratzinger’s down-playing of his previous dogmatic stands against other religions.
“Especially with the Jews and Muslims, he has shown a different attitude from the one he had previously,” Fr Mark says.
All in all my impression is not negative. He did nothing special but he’s not that bad. I believe he is the first pope in 100 years to be an intellectual, to be a man of the mind. He is a bright man and an academic. I’m getting good vibes.”
Vibes aren’t that good on the home front however, and Fr Mark has no delusions of change in the Maltese diocese.
“The decision has already been taken that the present archbishop will remain until he reaches 80, so we’ll definitely have more years of him. I think that in changing the face, the system will remain the same unless the new archbishop will have the backing of the clergy and popular support.”
kschembri@mediatoday.com.mt
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