No disassociation from bishop's communion ban to Catholics who vote for divorce

Stock Exchange chairman and Zwieg Bla Divorzju representative Arthur Galea Salomone denied that the anti-divorce lobby was latching on to religious arguments against divorce, but refused to be drawn into whether comments from Gozo bishop Mario Grech were acceptable during the divorce referendum.

Galea Salomone was answering questions from journalists during a Broadcasting Authority conference, recorded live today at 1:30pm. Zwieg Bla Divorzju chairman Andre Camilleri was not present for the debate because he was meeting the GRTU earlier in the afternoon, something also pointed out by The Malta Independent.

Asked by MaltaToday whether the anti-divorce lobby would disassociated itself from comments by Bishop Grech that Catholics who voted in favour of divorce could not be "in communion with the Eucharist" earlier last Week, Galea Salomone said everybody had a right to their opinion.

"Our movement is neither part of the Church, nor is it making a religious argument... We are making a secular argument against divorce. Whatever the Church is saying, we are saying something else. If the Archbishop were here, you’d be better off putting the question to him.”

“Everyone has the right to their own opinion,” Galea Salomone said. “Even Catholics."

Instead, Galea Salomone said it was the pro-divorce camp that was making use of religious arguments, by airing clips from a 2009 interview with Cana founder Mgr Charles Vella. The clips, in which Vella says "divorce does not scare him", were banned for airing by the Broadcasting Authority. Moviment Iva has filed a constitutional case against the BA.

“The Church has every right, constitutionally, to make its voice heard and its position clear,” he said. “Now it is up to everyone to exercise their democratic right and make their own choice," Galea Salomone said.

Galea Salomone reiterated much of the anti-divorce lobby’s positions on the dangers of a 'divorce without reason', which he said would undermine the stability of marriage or the sense of duty required of a marriage. "It can be imposed by a husband, who has committed a fault in the marriage, on his wife even if she does not want it for reasons of love, for example."

He reiterated that the proposed divorce law would not guarantee maintenance to divorced spouses, conceding however that Malta's present situation was identical to a future scenario with the introduction of divorce.

“We know that people today, even when bound by court, opt not to pay spousal maintenance and instead go to jail. Would somebody in prison pay maintenance. Maintenance is not guaranteed either in separation, or divorce,” he said. "That's why the referendum question is misleading.”

Asked whether he felt it was unfair that people could acquire a divorce from abroad, he reiterated that divorce could not be considered a civil right since this was not even granted by the European Court of Human Rights. "It's certainly not a right in a legal sense... as a civilised country we recognised foreign court sentences, and not just divorce... and it's not just for rich people, because these divorces are a minimal number in Malta."

The programme was also marked by concerns by several journalists who commented on the impossibility of engaging the Moviment Zwieg Bla Divorzju in the interest of asking questions and informing the public. The Institute of Maltese Journalists also condemned the movement for refusing to answer questions by journalists during its meetings with social partners.

“We were not afraid of the journalists,” Galea Salomone said, dismissing the concerns, remarking that he had appeared on a number of TV and radio shows. Instead, he accused the pro-divorce campaign of being built upon misleading statements and deception. Galea Salomone referred to promotional material publicised by Moviment Iva, saying that one TV spot was pulled immediately because it advocated that spouses should be free to "abandon their duty and commitments.”

“If we discard commitment and duty, where would that leave us as a society?” he asked.

Galea Salmone came under considerable pressure by journalists asking why the movement had failed to provide solutions to marital breakdon while arguing against divorce as a solution. In three instances, he avoided answering whether Zwieg Bla Divorzju was in favour of the publication of a cohabitation law that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is believed to be pushing, before the referendum date.

Pressed to answer, Galea Salomone said, “we have no difficulty” - adding that as a movement, they were "against the idea that partners who cohabit are granted the same rights as married couples.”

He however said there was no contradiction in opposing divorce and also supporting cohabitation.

Asked whether the movement has any solution to offer the 35,000 individuals who will be in broken families by 2015, Galea Salomone was also evasive on this question. He said that cohabitation was not what the Maltese public was voting upon, "but on a solution being proposed by two MPs... we need to understand what this solution really is about.”

Emphasising that divorce will not reduce marital breakdown, Galea Salomone said: “Were I an MP, I would have done things very differently. Firstly, I would have told my constituents that I would have been presenting a private member’s bill. Then, I would have done as Marie Louise Colerio Preca and Justyne Caruana and discussed ways to strengthen families and whether separation and annulment procedures could be improved.”

He referred to proposals to broaden civil annulment options that were presented in parliament. “What I wouldn’t have done was to blindly force the public to make this choice hastily and in the dark,” he said. "We need social impact studies on the effects of the introduction of divorce."

Journalists also referred to the Emery study that was misrepresented by Commissioner for Children Helen D'Amato when she said divorce was harmful to children, quoting the study. The study actually concluded there was no major difference in psycho-social performance for children from married, or separated and divorced families.

Galea Salomone conceded that marital breakdown, whether separation, divorce or annulment, was as a whole damaging to children. But he added that divorce will mean that "the State is recognising that the family is being undermined, and will further lead to more children suffering.”

Journalists Sergio Mallia (PBS), Miriam Dalli (MaltaToday), Stephen Calleja (Independent), Ramona Attard (One News), Karl Wright (RTK), and Victor Vella (L-Orizzont) interviewed Galea Salomone. The programme was presented and moderated by PBS’ Mario Micallef.