Prominent clerics meet Archbishop over leadership criticism

Archbishop Paul Cremona has met clergymen Joe Borg, Rene Camilleri, and head of Discern think-tank Joe Inguanez over their vocal criticism of the Church’s leadership which has now become a frequent talking point in newspaper columns.

Media expert Fr Joe Borg today wrote again on The Times of Malta denying the allegation of an “attempted coup” as described by former minister Lino Spiteri yesterday.

Fr René Camilleri, the head of the Church’s secretariat for catechesis, spoke of “leadership vacuum” while Fr Joe Inguanez, head of the Church’s research institute Discern has spoke of the Maltese Church being at a standstill.  “This is always dangerous but much more so in times of the rapid change we are experiencing at both the ecclesial and social sphere,” Inguanez told MaltaToday.

According to Borg, writing in his Times column, Archbishop Cremona acknowledged that their criticism stemmed “from our love for the Church and appreciated our good intentions… It was an example of the fraternal spirit of respect that should characterise the relationship between priests and their bishop.”

Professor Victor Asciak, the former head of the Church environment commissioner, wrote an article in defence of Archbishop Paul Cremona suggesting that the local Church leader was being ‘crucified’ for refusing to align the Church with partisan politics.

“The first time someone made a connection between the Church leadership, or lack thereof, and politics, it was the leader of the Nationalist Party. Last April [Simon Busuttil] spoke along the lines of how Joseph Muscat had succeeded in ‘silencing’ the Church over the civil unions issue. So like it or not, there is a connection. When a political party starts talking about the leadership of the Church, how can anyone say there isn’t a link with politics?”