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Karl Stagno-Navarra
As church sermons will today be expected to dwell over census figures revealing a dramatic free fall in churchgoers, sociologists and clergymen are pointing their fingers towards “a socially insensitive church” as one of the prime reasons that is keeping people away from church.
The census conducted by the Curia showed an all-time record drop in churchgoers.
As Bishops argued that the 52.6 per cent average of churchgoers is 11 per cent lower than the last survey, conducted almost ten years ago, they defended the reality by comparing it with much lower averages of churchgoers in other catholic states.
However, Archbishop Mgr Guzeppi Mercieca and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech are not only faced with a clear 11 per cent decrease – they are in fact dealing with a dramatic statistical free fall.
In actual fact, Sunday congregations decreased by 23 per cent when one compares the result with the very first census conducted by the Curia 23 years ago.
Leading church thinker Fr Vanni Xuereb expressed himself “not surprised” by the published statistics, though he expected them to be much lower than 50 per cent, when one considers the developing trends within Maltese society.
Xuereb says the main reason for this decline is hat many are choosing to live a faith which is “à la carte”.
“The census shows that who goes to mass on Sunday believes in the Church and its teachings, but most of all believes in the celebration of the Eucharist,” he said.
However, Xuereb believes also in the responsibilities of the Church towards its teachings. In this regard, he referred to the blatant paganism expressed in village festas, which in his own words are a “serious contradiction” to the catholic faith.
According to anthropologist Ranier Fsadni, the decline registered in Malta follows the current trend in Europe and in North America.
While he explains that the reasons for the decline are “definitely numerous”, prima facie evidence indicates a growing phenomenon of à la carte believers.
Ranier Fsadni argues that in reality, many are those who don’t go to mass but still consider themselves catholics. “People are still believers, but refuse to participate in collective spirituality.”
Catholicism is indeed very complex, especially in Western, modern and cosmopolitan societies where people adopt ideologies and practically personalise their spiritual habits.
They rebuke the traditional church liturgy, find it boring and somehow find wedding and funeral services much more pleasant to follow and participate in than normal mass.
Traditional left-winger Dun Ang Seychell expressed himself consoled only by the fact that the 52.6 per cent average of churchgoers in Malta, still remains the highest in Europe.
However, the priest voiced his concern at the fact that the figures are in free fall. “There is absolutely no comparison between what the Maltese are used to today, as opposed to what it was like 30 years ago. Progress has changed us as a people,” he said, adding that “faith, religion and church have become no longer priorities in our daily life”.
Dun Ang Seychell also puts the blame on the whole diocese and its administration. “As religious we are all to blame. We all saw this coming, particularly through the recent Synod. We must polish up our methods of preaching, we must come closer to the people, be understood and most of all, be sensitive to modern social realities.”
Asked to be specific about what he meant by “administrative responsibility”, and if he was referring to the outgoing Archbishop, Dun Ang Seychell was cautious in his reply: “It obviously has an implication on this, because we are talking about the spiritual shepherd, however all us in a religious life are to blame for the decline in church-goers.”
Author and drama director Mario Azzopardi argues the figures should surprise nobody: “They represent the irrelevance of church preaching and its boring liturgy.”
He says that religious concepts in Malta “have been all along skin-deep and often transacted as folkloristic tradition.”
“While church leaders have finally started to denounce parochialism as a wounding scandal, they still allow the debauchery to carry papier maché statues in streets… the Maltese have been trained in religious theatrics and showmanship, not its discerning spiritual essence. The church dragged its feet for too long, knocked itself out of prevailing social realities, and treated the faithful like immature, spoilt infants.”
He concluded that the result is emphatically evident.
ksnavarra@mediatoday.com.mt
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