Evangelical values in Present Malta
Malta's deeply rooted religious imprint continues to be evidenced by the fact that almost all Maltese are baptised in the Catholic Church immediately after birth. Indeed, the attachment of the Maltese people to their religious heritage continues to be vis ible, sustained by a strong desire to remain faithful to this precious legacy.
In her efforts to offer the kind of pastoral leadership called for according to the signs of the times, the Church in Malta is encouraging Catholics to strive towards a collective effort to create a society inspired by the highest ideals of justice and p eace, and marked by special attention to the needs of the less fortunate members of the community.
This appeal is also linked to the Church's warnings about the negative effects of the strong winds of secularism, materialism, consumerism and hedonism, which are reaching our small central Mediterranean archipelago too.
The large majority of the Maltese people agree that the best way to face the challenges of the present time is by applying the Christian vision we have inherited from our past. However, an increasing number of persons in our population of around 350,000, are choosing what suits their material needs, desires, inclinations and instincts. They are giving in to the pressures which come from the social and cultural milieu of our times, where the principal protagonist are often the mass media.
A study on contemporary trends in Malta, conducted by the Church's Institute for Research on the Signs of the Times (DISCERN), maintains that the powerful strain of individualism is leading people to seek a life marked by pleasure and to attempt to actual ise their potential by seeking 'la dolce vita'. Pleasure is being widely advertised and systematically promoted, with the result that people are beginning to assume that all there was to a successful life was pleasure.
This has created the risk of confusion in people's minds. This confusion and the consequent loss of the real meaning of life are instigated, primarily, by certain trendsetters who believe that Malta should adopt a new way of life and, in effect, are promo ting attitudes where God's Law and Evangelical values are sometimes considered as outdated or an obstacle, especially when they demand sacrifices for their true practice.
Nothwithsatnding these trends, our culture in its complexity, is still open to the re-introduction of traditional warnings on the dangers of hedonism. Catholic opinion leaders are in the forefront in this process and many Maltese are not accepting the tot al merger of life with pleasure. They are remembering that pain is as much part of life as pleasure and that indeed, there are inherent limits, in life, to the pursuit of pleasure.
The DISCERN study identifies a sign of contradiction in our culture: the very fact that life is often poor in its pleasure component is re-opening our people to a beam of light which comes from the Cross and the Gospel.
The Pastoral care of the family ---
realising, very much the need for a re-evangelisation process designed according to the signs of the times, the Church in Malta is at present putting into effect a special pastoral positive drive for more awareness about the richness of Christian family v alues.
In her desire to gove a more extensive and better help to engaged couples in their preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage, the Church has this year inaugurated a new pastoral project which also aims at helping engaged couples to become conscious of the need that their Christian formation as a couple should continue also in their married life.
The basics of this project reflect an ever clearer recognition of the fact that preparation for marriage cannot be limited to the short period preceding the wedding-day, but should be carried out in full co-ordination with the pastoral care for young peop le and concerning vocations. It means that preparation for marriage should be an essential and integral part of the walk of life, to help young people reach decisions, undertake initiatives and choose a way of living that are in keeping with the Christian way of life.
Couples on the road to marriage are being encouraged to make contact with parish-priests as early as possible; to make good use of the services of expert advice offered to them by Church organizations at the national and parochial level, and to follow-up a perparatory course provided for those seeking a Christian marriage, possibly as early as two years before their marriage.
The Church is encouraged by the fact that, in spite of the great challenges which married couples have to face, in Malta the foundations of the family are essentially still unimpaired, strong and wholesome. Furthermore, one can note a steady increase in t he number of those who are dedicating themselves, with a strong sense of generosity and commitment, to the pastoral care of the family.
Parish Feasts
The archdiocese also launched a campaign towards furthering the values to be safeguarded and promoted in the celebration of parish feasts.
The traditional feasts of the saints remain an integral part of the life of the Church in our country and of our culture. Emphasis is being made that the Church considers feasts as something good and worthwhile prserving, as long as they maintain their pr oper aim, and thus be of benefit, and not a hindrance, to man.
The basic message is that the Church wants the faithful to venerate the saints and celebrate their feast, primarily to learn from their example to love God ever more, and to obtain God's help through their intercession. At the same time, the Church's wish is that these feasts will help to strengthen unity among all, through sincere brotherly love.
Church-State relations
During the past few years, agreements have been reached between the Church and the State about: (a) the transfer to the State of such immovable property in Malta as is not required by the Catholic Church for pastoral purposes; (b) Church Schools; (c) the re-incorporation of the Faculty of Theology within the (State) University of Malta; and (d) State recognition of Civil Effects to Canonical Marriage and to the decisions of the Ecclesiastical Authorities.
These agreements, the products of a long but constructive dialogue, sterngthened the relations between the Church and the State and permitted the Church - especially following the agreement on Church property - to concentrate better on its pastoral missio n.
Church Schools
One major service the Church in Malta is offering to the community is through her schools, which cater for about one third of the primary/secondary student population in the Maltese Islands*. This service is in line with the Church's educational mission f or the development of the whole person and the welfare of society.
Accodring to a 1991 Church-State Agreement, Church schools are to provide fee-free tuition. This can be made possible as teaching and non-teaching staff salaries are provided for jointly by Church and State, while other expenses are to be met by Church co llections.
As to the teaching and non-teaching staff salaries, the Church bound herself to use part of her income accruing from the transfer of her property to the State, that is about half a million Maltese liri (Lm500,000) annually. The Church is also contribu ting through the services of her religious and priests in these schools who receive a much reduced salary from that which they are entitled to and which they would have earned as lay employees. This generosity totals some other half a million liri a year.
Along with such contributions, the Church is also responsible for the maintenance of her schools. The Church-State Agreement states that the Church is to collect the necessary funds to be able to meet these financial burdens. These include free donations from parents and others; an annual collection in the Archdiocese of Malta and the Diocese of Gozo; and any other source of income.
Social support initiatives
The Church's contribution to society in present-day Malta includes the services Caritas (Malta) has long been offering for the rehabilitation of drug addicts and to educate the community about the untold harm caused by drug abuse. It also includes charita ble institutions such as Homes for the Elderly, Girls' Hostels, Children's Homes, Homes for Persons in Distress, and Homes for Persons with Disabilities*. Furthermore, the Church is giving shelter and/or assistance to many of the refugees reaching our sho res.
The Maltese people's appreciation of the services the Church is providing in these and other areas is evidenced by their continued generous support to sustain them and to help them respond adequately to today's needs.
Priest population
As the pastoral challenges continue to grow, the number of Maltese priests reaching old age is getting bigger and bigger. The total number of diocesan priests working in Malta is 343. Their age distribution is as follows; over 90 years - 2; from 80 to 89 - 11; from 70 to 79 - 76; from 60 to 69 - 87; from 50 to 59 - 57; from 40 to 49 - 61; from 30 to 39 - 43; under 30 - 6. This means that 25.9% of diocesan priests are over 70 years of age, while another 25.4% are between the age of 60 and 69.
* See following "Statistics"
Charles Buttigieg, P.R.O., Archbishop's Curia, Malta
October 24, 1995
STATISTICS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MALTA AND GOZO
MALTA GOZO Churches 313 46 Parishes 63 15 Autonomous Zones 2 -- National Parishes 6 -- Church Kindergarten 36 6 Children in Church Kindergarten 1928 220 Church Schools (Primary) 27 3 Students in Church Primary Schools 8329 500 Church Schools (Secondary) 18 1 Students in Church Secondary Schools 6549 270 Church Schools (Sixth Forms) 2 -- Students in Church Sixth Forms 492 -- Charitable Institutes 46 7 (Homes for the Handicapped, Elderly, Children, etc.) Priests (Diocesan) 343 163 Diocesan Priests abroad 142 51 Seminarians (Diocesan) 35 21 Priests (Religious) 459 20 Religious Brothers 67 7 Religious Priests abroad 208 114 Religious Brothers abroad 26 -- Male Religious Novices/Students 43 2 Male Religious Novices/Students abroad 9 1 Female Religious 1094 127 Female Religious abroad 416 33 Female Religious Novices/Students 27 2 Female Religious Postulants/Novices abroad 4 --Return to Main Page