Curia: historian’s claim of favouritism for Jason Azzopardi annulment is defamatory

The Maltese Catholic archdiocese has accused historian Simon Mercieca of making defamatory remarks in a blogpost in which he alleges former Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi obtained his marriage annulment, through the favour of an ecclesiastical tribunal’s principal.

University of Malta academic Simon Mercieca alleged in his blog that Mgr Joseph Bajada, president of the Regional Tribunal of Second Instance, had influenced the decision of the church Metropolitan Tribunal to grant Jason Azzopardi a marriage annulment.

Mercieca said Bajada was associated with Azzopardi, having been abroad with him in Sicily together with representatives of the anti-corruption NGO Repubblika, namely Alessandra Dee Crespo, Chancellor at the Regional Tribunal of Second Instance.

“The allegations made in the article penned by Simon Mercieca are false, untrue, factually incorrect and defamatory,” the Maltese archdiocese said in a statement on Friday.

“Mgr Bajada presides only over appeals of the Regional Ecclesiastical Tribunal. This is separate and distinct from the Metropolitan Tribunal. Neither Mgr Bajada, nor his chancellor, has any involvement, let alone any say, in cases of first instance, such as Dr Azzopardi’s. These cases fall under a separate tier of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, headed by the Judicial Vicar of the Metropolitan Tribunal of Malta.”

The archdiocese, often the target of ultra-conservative voices hosted on Mercieca’s blog, accused the historian of making no attempt at verifying facts and “using untruths to make defamatory allegations... they are unreservedly condemnable. Such a situation is of even graver concern when the author, Simon Mercieca in this case, is a Professor of History – a subject in which factual verification is paramount – at the University of Malta.”

Mercieca’s blog frequently champions right-wing elements in the Nationalist Party, and has nursed a long-time feud with anti-corruption NGO Repubblika, whose lawyer is Azzopardi, while also promoting blogs from anti-vaxxers and traditionalists Pro Malta Christiana.

“The Ecclesiastical Tribunal is the fiefdom of the ‘repubblichini’, which obtained for Azzopardi his marriage annulment. Azzopardi has been on holiday with the head and chancellor of this tribunal,” Mercieca claimed in his blog.

Mercieca claimed Azzopardi’s friendship with Bajada and Crespo allowed him to obtain a Church annulment of his marriage to Marica Azzopardi Balzan, which will follow with a civil annulment in the Maltese courts.

“In this manner, Azzopardi’s ex-wife will no longer be recognised by the State as his spouse... and Azzopardi will no longer be obliged to pay his spouse any maintenance. Certainly, not everyone who is passing through Church annulment proceedings gets to go abroad with one of the tribunal judges and the chancellor.”

Azzopardi underwent separation proceedings in 2017. In 2011, he had voted against the divorce bill despite the electorate’s “Yes” in a referendum. In 2018, he was hit by an €800,000 garnishee order filed by his ex-wife.