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‘Church won’t carry out crusade against removal of Catholicism from Constitution’
Malta Today ^ | January 20, 2018 | Matthew Vella

Posted on 01/20/2018 7:19:03 PM PST by ebb tide


Archbishop Charles Scicluna said removing Roman Catholicism as Malta’s official religion would not affect the Church’s mission

Archbishop Charles Scicluna said removing Roman Catholicism as Malta’s official religion would not affect the Church’s mission

The Maltese Archbishop has vowed he will not carry out any “crusade” should Roman Catholicism be removed from the island’s Constitution as the official religion of Malta.

Charles Scicluna told Radju Malta host Andrew Azzopardi that the separation of church and state were positive developments for a country, and that he was in favour of a level-playing field for all religions.

But he said that if any constitutional convention had to propose the removal of Roman Catholicism from the Constitution, he would still argue whether Malta should be shorn of its religious patrimony.

“If Catholicism were removed from the Constitution as official religion, the Church would live on,” Scicluna said, making a rejoinder to his own theology dissertation.

“My research on this matter had found that the United Kingdom had never wanted this type of declaration in any of the colonies’ constitutions. The Maltese fought for this declaration, which was the first legal act of 1922 after the 1921 Constitution, a unanimous declaration by the National Assembly that Malta’s religion was Roman Catholicism.”

Since then however, Malta’s independence had prevailed over what was a confrontation between the church and the colonial power.

“Do we need this kind of declaration in the Constitution, today? No. It is a declaration of fact. What’s important is that all religions in Malta enjoy freedom of belief.

“I am comfortable with our religion being on the same level as other religions. This is the kind of liberty I insist upon. It is not status that gives one relevance. It is the people that make one relevant, for example, by their insistence on sending children to church schools, a demand so large we cannot cater for today.”

But Scicluna said that in the eventuality of any convention that proposes the removal of religion from the Constitution, he would argue if proponents were ready to “remove this religious heritage which is so much part of our DNA. Because it would mean removing every single religious expression in state and public events.

“But it would be no crusade: these are certainly not the times for any crusade.”

Scicluna indeed said no church should have any role of power in the affairs of a state, in an argument he made against theocracies.

“I have no such nostalgia for that,” he said in a reference to the Maltese church’s former influence on state affairs. “The church-state separation is a positive development and I believe it is good that Malta is a secular country.”

Scicluna said clerical predecessors like the formidable Michael Gonzi and Mgr Enrico Dandria hailed from a generation of clerics who had been granted power to participate in political life through the 1870 referendum. Both Gonzi and Dandria were MPs in the 1920s.

“It was a generation of clerics who were protagonists against the colonial government. After independence in 1964, Archbishop Gonzi’s mindset then was still that of the former senator and archbishop elected under a colonial government. It was a frame of mind for him.”


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: francisbishop; francischurch; malta

1 posted on 01/20/2018 7:19:03 PM PST by ebb tide
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To: ebb tide

O.M.G. ~ [from your post] Forgive me if I abbreviated the Lord’s Name in vain...


2 posted on 01/20/2018 7:28:16 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: ebb tide

Of course, removing Catholicism from the Maltese Constitution only creates another Western civilizatonal abdication type hole...A VACUUM TO BE FILLED, for the greatest, and up to now most successful historical, Jihad in history using the demographic effects of migration, birth rates and Jihad “wet” operations. The die is cast for Malta now,also, as a small microcosmic part of Europe’s larger whole.

Western secular, socialist political proclivities seem to act only as Trojan Horses for the advancement of Isalm, and that role now seems one that has been deliberately,wilfully chosen.


3 posted on 01/20/2018 7:34:01 PM PST by givemELL
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To: ebb tide
Assuming that there's full freedom of religion in Malta there's no reason why Catholicism shouldn't remain the "official" religion.

The United Kingdom,a nation where all religions are free to function,works just fine with the Church of England being the "official" religion.

4 posted on 01/20/2018 7:44:57 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Remember: All Cultures Are Equal!)
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To: heterosupremacist
How quickly they forget, especially with Francis' numerous open invitations to the moslems to invade their country, and other countries.

History's bloodiest siege used human heads as cannonballs

5 posted on 01/20/2018 7:46:46 PM PST by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome)
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To: Gay State Conservative
Malta a great destination for Muslims
6 posted on 01/20/2018 7:52:55 PM PST by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome)
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To: heterosupremacist
Charles Scicluna told Radju Malta host Andrew Azzopardi that the separation of church and state were positive developments for a country, and that he was in favour of a level-playing field for all religions.

The Syllabus Of Errors

Error 55: The Church ought to be separated from the .State, and the State from the Church. — Allocution “Acerbissimum,” Sept. 27, 1852.

7 posted on 01/20/2018 8:31:54 PM PST by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome)
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To: ebb tide

My favorite! I have read, (re-read) this tract so many times...

Brilliant, what else could I possibly add?


8 posted on 01/20/2018 8:38:46 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: heterosupremacist
Other factors leading to an accelerated proliferation of evil in our times include, but are not limited to: ⦁ The widespread acceptance of secular humanism and moral relativism ⦁ The devaluation of life from conception to natural death ⦁ The legal right to kill the unborn at any stage of gestation; even 'partial birth' abortions ⦁ The legal right to homosexual 'marriage' ⦁ Special legal protections and hiring preferences for sexual degenerates of every description ⦁ The growing influence of Islam and countless other false religions ⦁ Curricula indoctrinating students into godless philosophical nihilism 5 I was born over fifty years ago; American by birth, Irish/Catholic by the grace of God. Born in the greatest country that ever existed - by any measure. A most glorious nation founded upon the principle that all men were created equal. The Founding Fathers understood themselves to be creatures, each one infinitely blessed by their Creator. Sadly, that deontological tenet has increasingly been usurped by the social doctrines of our times; and this more than any other single factor has caused the incremental destruction we witness daily in our beloved 'Nation under God'. Liberty and justice for all cannot possibly be achieved by man. The Founders knew that man is utterly incapable of governing his fellow man justly, without adhering to God's law. They all understood that the foundations for governmental justice and liberty must stem from the ultimate source of all justice and liberties, id est, Almighty God. A quote from James Madison expressed their beliefs succinctly, “Any country not ruled by the Ten Commandments will be ruled by tyrants.” June 25, 1962 Engle v. Vitale – The Supreme Court of The United States; led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, officially decided, “Prayer in school breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State.” How I wish we still had patriotic men like James Madison in our Nation's Capital to bitchslap imbeciles like Justice Warren when necessary! Church and State were to coexist in a nation ruled by Judeo-Christian principles. The erroneous phrasing of 'separation between Church and State' altogether subverts the Founders declared purpose - Church was to be separated and exempted from governmental authority, as the Founders simply wanted to prohibit the government from imposing any religion on its citizens. They clearly intended a separation between Church from State, and not strictly Church and State. The Founders envisioned a free republic, and they understood the arbitrary nature and travesty of King James establishing himself by law as de facto caliph in A.D. 1611. The Anglican Church was founded as a State Institution and as such, all subordinates of the King in all his territories were then members of the Church of England, not by choice; but by royal ordinance. Being visionaries, the Founders recognized the need to guarantee our freedom to worship our Creator independently, and they were also men who publicly invoked God's help every time they assembled. They did not foresee, nor would they have allowed, the formation of a society that might possibly enact laws forbidding Bibles and prayer. The Warren court egregiously overstepped their authority by making a mockery of both the balance and scale of their constitutional powers; as well as the Founders' intent, while disregarding the will of the majority of the American electorate. The Warren court's ineptitude (or was it sabotage?) inevitably led the way to future high crimes and misdemeanors. Another flagrant example of judicial treason that has been equally destructive to our Republic was decided just one year later: June 17, 1963 Murray v. Curlett - “ No State or school board may require passages be read from the Bible or that the Lord's Prayer be recited in public schools of a State.” Such misinterpretations of law are contradictory to the obvious intent of the Founders, who wanted only to establish a nation under God; a free country governed with common sense, and ruled in accordance with God's law. 6 I contend that after America and the Allies won WWII and freed oppressed peoples across the world (Deo gratias) we are no longer a Nation under God. Many (most?) of our representatives since that era unlawfully disregard existing law, or create new laws for their own political gain. Yes, American voters are uninformed or worse, apathetic, due to an shameful lack of civic responsibility and national pride. Ecco homo sapiens! Behold mankind and their concupiscence! The ruling class has ever and always will rely on murder, tyranny, slavery, and the impoverishment of the proletariat to solidify their rule. Imperialism, Nazism, Fascism, Communism, and Socialism are some examples of how the godless and corrupt ruling classes have chosen to govern (subjugate) their fellow man. Humanity's political history is little else but abhorrent examples of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man - the first civilizations in our recorded history have given abundant evidence that mankind has been the most murderous and despicable race of creatures ever to roam this earth, and surely nobody will dare to dispute that fact. Laugh, dear reader, at the dreadful truth; human beings - en masse - are evil, wicked, truly wretched creatures, capable of the most hideous trespasses; a loathsome race of warriors who will mistreat and even murder their own kind for any measure of personal gain!
9 posted on 01/20/2018 8:44:41 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: heterosupremacist
FYI. Neither the Syllabus of Errors (Syllabus Errorum), nor Acerbissimum, are linked to on the Vatican's official website.

Pius IX

10 posted on 01/20/2018 9:01:53 PM PST by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome)
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To: heterosupremacist

Help! My eyes. Where are the paragraphs?


11 posted on 01/20/2018 9:03:13 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Other factors leading to an accelerated proliferation of evil in our times include, but are not limited to: ⦁ The widespread acceptance of secular humanism and moral relativism ⦁ The devaluation of life from conception to natural death ⦁ The legal right to kill the unborn at any stage of gestation; even 'partial birth' abortions ⦁ The legal right to homosexual 'marriage' ⦁ Special legal protections and hiring preferences for sexual degenerates of every description ⦁ The growing influence of Islam and countless other false religions ⦁ Curricula indoctrinating students into godless philosophical nihilism I was born over fifty years ago; American by birth, Irish/Catholic by the grace of God. Born in the greatest country that ever existed - by any measure. A most glorious nation founded upon the principle that all men were created equal. The Founding Fathers understood themselves to be creatures, each one infinitely blessed by their Creator. Sadly, that deontological tenet has increasingly been usurped by the social doctrines of our times; and this more than any other single factor has caused the incremental destruction we witness daily in our beloved 'Nation under God'. Liberty and justice for all cannot possibly be achieved by man. The Founders knew that man is utterly incapable of governing his fellow man justly, without adhering to God's law. They all understood that the foundations for governmental justice and liberty must stem from the ultimate source of all justice and liberties, id est, Almighty God. A quote from James Madison expressed their beliefs succinctly, “Any country not ruled by the Ten Commandments will be ruled by tyrants.” June 25, 1962 Engle v. Vitale – The Supreme Court of The United States; led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, officially decided, “Prayer in school breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State.” How I wish we still had patriotic men like James Madison in our Nation's Capitol to bitchslap imbeciles like Justice Warren when necessary! Church and State were to coexist in a nation ruled by Judeo-Christian principles. The erroneous phrasing of 'separation between Church and State' altogether subverts the Founders declared purpose - Church was to be separated and exempted from governmental authority, as the Founders simply wanted to prohibit the government from imposing any religion on its citizens. They clearly intended a separation between Church from State, and not strictly Church and State. The Founders envisioned a free republic, and they understood the arbitrary nature and travesty of King James establishing himself by law as de facto caliph in A.D. 1611. The Anglican Church was founded as a State Institution and as such, all subordinates of the King in all his territories were then members of the Church of England, not by choice; but by royal ordinance. Being visionaries, the Founders recognized the need to guarantee our freedom to worship our Creator independently, and they were also men who publicly invoked God's help every time they assembled. They did not foresee, nor would they have allowed, the formation of a society that might possibly enact laws forbidding Bibles and prayer. The Warren court egregiously overstepped their authority by making a mockery of both the balance and scale of their constitutional powers; as well as the Founders' intent, while disregarding the will of the majority of the American electorate. The Warren court's ineptitude (or was it sabotage?) inevitably led the way to future high crimes and misdemeanors. Another flagrant example of judicial treason that has been equally destructive to our Republic was decided just one year later: June 17, 1963 Murray v. Curlett - “ No State or school board may require passages be read from the Bible or that the Lord's Prayer be recited in public schools of a State.” Such misinterpretations of law are contradictory to the obvious intent of the Founders, who wanted only to establish a nation under God; a free country governed with common sense, and ruled in accordance with God's law. I contend that after America and the Allies won WWII and freed oppressed peoples across the world (Deo gratias) we are no longer a Nation under God. Many (most?) of our representatives since that era unlawfully disregard existing law, or created new laws for their own political gain. Yes, American voters are uninformed or worse, apathetic, due to an shameful lack of civic responsibility and national pride. Ecco homo sapiens! Behold mankind and their concupiscence! The ruling class has ever and always will rely on murder, tyranny, slavery, and the impoverishment of the proletariat to solidify their rule. Imperialism, Nazism, Fascism, Communism, and Socialism are some examples of how the godless and corrupt ruling classes have chosen to govern (subjugate) their fellow man. Humanity's political history is little else but abhorrent examples of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man - the first civilizations in our recorded history have given abundant evidence that mankind has been the most murderous and despicable race of creatures ever to roam this earth, and surely nobody will dare to dispute that fact. Laugh, dear reader, at the dreadful truth; human beings - en masse - are evil, wicked, truly wretched creatures, capable of the most hideous trespasses; a loathsome race of warriors who will mistreat and even murder their own kind for any measure of personal gain!
12 posted on 01/20/2018 9:15:36 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: Salvation

Do’h! Strike two!!


13 posted on 01/20/2018 9:16:46 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: Salvation

Do’h! Strike two!!


14 posted on 01/20/2018 9:25:39 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: ebb tide

What a shocker -- NOT! -- since Malta is ground zero for the schism in the Church.

15 posted on 01/20/2018 10:06:48 PM PST by BlessedBeGod (To restore all things in Christ~~Appeasing evil is cowardice~~Francis is temporary. Hell is forever.)
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To: ebb tide

that guy sets off my gaydar....


16 posted on 01/20/2018 10:14:44 PM PST by cherry
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To: ebb tide

Well why would he? Through his heretical interpretation of Amoris Laetitia he shows he’s not willing to crusade to keep Catholic teaching in the Catholic Church itself.


17 posted on 01/21/2018 4:16:36 AM PST by Unam Sanctam
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