MALTA
Malta Today
It is not the attire which makes you a worthy priest or a nun, but the personality and psychological make-up that lies beneath. Some are truly good. Others are truly nasty pieces of work.
Josanne Cassar 3 November 2014
I think I had better start this piece with a disclaimer: I know very well that there are very good, very worthy priests (and nuns for that matter) who are doing a lot of commendable missionary work in their chosen fields. I particularly admire the nuns who run the creches and the priests who work with the poor and disadvantaged in Malta’s problem areas.
Unfortunately, they do not compensate, in the public’s mind, for those who transgress. This is understandable, since it has been drilled and drummed into most of us from the time we attended our first catechism lesson, that those who represent the Church are (or should be) above reproach. Although the influence of religion on the mores of Maltese society has been greatly diluted in the last 50 years, it is still there, ever present, as part of our national social fabric.
One can hardly turn on a TV talk show without seeing a member of the clergy speaking on behalf of the Church. And even if their own lifestyle is far removed from the teachings of the Church, many lapsed Catholics find absolutely no contradiction in sending their children to a church school, packing them off to muzew in order to be able to do their Holy Communion and Confirmation, and basically raising their offspring as Roman Catholics, because….
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.