Carmel Hili (Kattolici – Iva ghax dritt) reacts to the Gozo Bishop’s sermon at St. George’s Basilica in which the Bishop described yes voters as “wolves dressed as sheep.
Press release reproduced with the authors’ permission.
According to newspaper reports, last Sunday at St. George’s Basilica, Victoria (Gozo), H.E. Mons. Bishop of Gozo said that Catholics who are in favour of a ‘yes’ vote in the forthcoming referendum are “wolves dressed as sheep”.
It is with deep regret for us as Catholics that our brother, H.E. Mons. Bishop, made recourse to such language about his Catholic brothers and sisters. Such language falls short of Christian charity and does not consider with respect and wisdom the position of Catholics like us.
We thus feel that, with great love and respect for the Spiritual Shepherd of Gozo, we declare that it cannot be that, as he stated, Catholics who choose to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum are not “in communion with our Lord Jesus Christ”, “disloyal to the teachings of our Holy Mother Church”, “traitors” or “wolves dressed as sheep”. We do not feel that such language befits a Spiritual Shepherd.
We must call attention to the fact that Catholics who vote ‘yes’ in the forthcoming referendum will not be declaring themselves in favour or against divorce as a matter of moral or religious legitimacy. They are only recognising the State’s duty to legislate for all its citizens, irrespective whether they are Catholics or not. This is in line with the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teachings of our Holy Mother Church.
It is true what H.E. Mons. Bishop said that everyone has a right to marry and to form a family but not everyone has a right to marry in church. He might have added that not everyone wants or can marry in Church. This is precisely our point: that our Holy Mother Church should not coerce the State, or lay pressure upon it, to refuse marriage and a happy life to those who do not want or cannot marry in Church. Quite right, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states (n. 2847) that “God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings”.
The ones who are not in communion with our Lord Jesus Christ, disloyal to the teachings of our Holy Mother Church, traitors and wolves dressed as sheep are those who do not see that the things which are ruining Maltese families and children – such as financial and economic burdens and hardships – are eliminated.
Carmel Hili
Spokesperson for Kattoliċi: Iva Għax Dritt
Jacques René Zammit
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Posted on May 19, 2011 by Jacques René Zammit
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