Archbishop hopes Equality Act will not impinge on freedom of religion

Archbishop Charles Scicluna expressed hope that the new law against discrimination proposed by government won’t interfere with the right to religion and the right to expression of conscience.

Speaking on RTK about the Equality Act, Scicluna was hesitant to give a direct opinion on the law, which he dubbed “the second Constitution.”

“The draft indicates that it’s going to be a very long law, so much so that it can be considered a second constitution. It must be studies properly before the Church can form a formal opinion on it,” he said.

Scicluna then added that while the Church supports the principle of respect and equality, he calls for the resulting structures to be built to support this law will not stand in the way of the right to religious protection and expression of conscience.

“I hope that this law will not lead to an owner of an establishment who is against and does not support same-sex civil union to be considered as breaking the law,” the Archbishop said.

The new law will grant more rights to discriminated people and clamp down on institutionalized discrimination. Although it has not received the level of media coverage as the civil unions and gender identity laws, Silvan Agius, director of the Human Rights and Integration Directorate, believes that the Equality Act will prove to be the most crucial equality legislation in recent history.