De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

I've been a witness to an extraordinary exchange on Facebook this week.
Bishop Mario Grech has a reputation for being a bully, see this report from 2015. He also was reported to have threatened a priest with suspension for refusing to read the heretical guidelines issued in the wake of Amoris Laetitia, see the Catholic Herald article here.

Bishop Grech has also refused to explain why he has protected priests who have been found guilty of abuse by the CDF see here while Archbishop Charles Scicluna reiterates his commitment to ‘tackle’ every case of abuse. Although more recently a Gozitan priest has been convicted for molestation in the Maltese civil courts and he was reported to the police by +Grech. This is clearly an improvement, although common consensus on the islands is that it is too little too late when one considers the lack of action till then.

Earlier this week, Bishop Grech confirmed this reputation as a bully by publicly attacking a faithful Maltese priest ON FACEBOOK!…

An interview with a priest in Malta demonstrates just what a mess the directive of Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Bishop of Gozo Mario Grech, has caused among Catholics on the Islands.

At the weekend on Facebook I noticed several priests commenting on how they'd been approached by distraught Maltese parishioners who feel betrayed by what the bishops have done.
The text of the interview in The Times of Malta is reproduced here:

When the bishops released guidelines suggesting that divorced Catholics who enter another relationship may not be denied Communion, many rejoiced. But others were confused. Kurt Sansone meets a parish priest who feels the guidelines are wrong and contradict Church doctrine.

“Confused” is the first word uttered by Fr Joe as he tries to describe his feelings on the bishops’ guidelines dealing with divorced and remarried Catholics.

Joe is not his real name. He is a relatively young parish priest and – concerned over being labelled anti-Pope – asks to remain a…

Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo has posted a podcast in which he speaks about the highly controversial Maltese directive I posted about here. The speech is in Maltese, but my dear friend Marie-Claire Kaminski, a fellow student of Theology, has taken the time to translate this extraordinary speech into English to afford us the opportunity to gain greater insight into the bishop's motivation and thinking. We have added some of our own thoughts in red.


A week ago, together with Archbishop Scicluna, we published the guidelines to show how, in the name of Christ, we can break the jar of ointment on the wounds of those persons who are having great difficulties in their love-life (affective life); and which is affecting their relationship with Jesus. [In the Gospel, the jar of ointment was used by the sinful woman to anoint the feet of Jesus (Mt 26:7; Mk 14:3; Lk 7:37) as a sign and gesture of total repentance and contrition for her sins. Jesus, of course, welcomed her and forgave her. Bisho…

The problem with Amoris Laetitia is that it subtly opens the door to being interpreted in contradiction to Familiaris Consortio. However many have pointed out that there is a more problematic dimension to the Apostolic Exhortation, namely it's failure to reference Veritatis Splendor, Pope St John Paul II's authoritative Encyclical which addresses the fundamental technical questions of Moral Theology and condemns utilitarianism and relativism. This encyclical, on the foundations of Catholic moral teaching, is the principal magisterial document on the moral life since the Council of Trent. As Fr de Souza pointed out recently:
"Ignoring Veritatis Splendor is like writing about the nature of the Church and not making reference to the teaching of Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium." Perhaps of most import in this context is the third part of Veritatis Splendor which is entitled “Lest the Cross of Christ Be Emptied of Its Power”. Therein, Pope…