Malta is not a Catholic state ruled by an archbishop but a secular republic (Kenneth Zammit Tabona, The Times of Malta, 30/01/2007)

It is deeply insulting and offensive to all those of us who would like to know that we are not living in the Catholic equivalent of an Islamic State. (Daphne Caruana Galizia, The Malta Independent on Sunday, 28/01/2007)

Whatever happened to give unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's? Why do we live in a society where these things still need spelling out? (J'accuse)


The problem with the whole debate on divorce, the new Archbishop and the role of the Church in Malta is that people seem to position the discourse in terms of a choice between two opposing poles. On the one hand the "Caesar gets what's his" option (in which case we can call ourselves secular and 'modern'), on the other the "God gets to play Caesar and Caesar gets to play God" scenario (where we end up looking like a Catholic version of an Islamic State).

Things are a bit more complicated and interesting than that. A little voyage around the world reveals that there are 3 main categories of Church-State relationship and several particularities within each category. I find it weird that this stuff didn't feature in our political theory or philosophy of law classes at the good old UoM.

Separation - No official State religion. Private law governs religious matters. As the US experience has shown, this does not preclude political parties from leaning towards religious groups in terms of ideology. Three types of separation can be identified: Pure separation (France, the US, Mexico, Turkey). 'Agreed' separation based on a bilateral treaty between Church and State in which the Church is considered a legal entity governed by public law and is granted public funding (Germany, Austria, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia). Hostile separation in which the State is based on an atheist or agnostic ideology and eliminates religion from public life (Cuba, China, North Korea)

Association - In which the State upholds a "national" religion (which establishes the identity of the nation) or an "official" religion. This may sit comfortably with freedom of conscience and a secular approach to civil status (civil marriage, divorce legislation, abortion etc) and the full respect of other religions (The United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark and others)

Collusion - The State purports to be the guarantor of one religion which is confused with the national identity. The clergy are civil servants and play a political role, religious doctrine is applied to civil status issues such as marriage, divorce and abortion. In some countries other beliefs are tolerated (Pakistan, Algeria, Egypt, Israel) while in others they are banned (Saudi Arabia). The Vatican is a case apart since it is the only true theocracy in the world: the spiritual and temporal are joined in the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff.

Malta is an interesting case which, as things stand, appears to straddle the Association and Collusion categories. There are three crucial factors which make this possible.

First, both the Head of State and several members of the ruling class (including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister but also large chunks of the Opposition) appear to base their ideology on their belief system, projecting these values as national values rather than purely personal ones. This was made patently clear when President Fenech Adami indicated that he would probably not sign a divorce law passed by the House. But let's not ignore the fact that letters in local newspapers are still full of biblical quotations. Representatives represent the represented.

Second, following the Church-Mintoff standoff, the Labour party came to the conclusion that it would be unwise to take on Malta's Catholic majority. Essentially the debate on Church-State relations ended in the 1980s, handed the Nationalists a comfortable lead and 25 years later the 'pragmatic' Labour Party rivals the Nationalist Party in terms of devout Catholic representatives. Alfred Sant, himself an atheist, could face a mutiny if he rocks the boat at this stage. Labour MP Adrian Vassallo has already made it clear that if his party were to pledge to introduce divorce legislation, he would not stand for election. In other words, Malta's socialists are light years away from Zapatero with whom they share seats in the European Parliament.

Third, and perhaps crucially, Malta lacks a convincing and influential intellectual class which is prepared to move the debate and the country forward. Anyone who follows debates in Italy, Poland and Spain knows that the big ideological battles of today still pit liberals against conservatives (and the Church) on issues like the Pacs, gay marriage and stem-cell research. In Italy's La Repubblica, for instance, the extent of the Vatican's ingerenza into local politics is often debated and analysed. Granted, these countries have moved on from debating divorce. However, let's not forget that Spain only got a divorce law in 1981 after massive opposition from the Church and conservatives. Malta is not the only country in Europe where the Catholic Church's doctrine still plays an important ideological role in debates. And it's not a 16th century country just because it lacks divorce legislation. But Malta is the only country in Europe which lacks a convincing and respected progressive 'voice' to challenge and question the predominant conservative world view. Most small countries in Europe (think Luxembourg and Belgium) naturally feed off the bigger intellectual debate going on around them in France, Germany and Holland. Malta doesn't quite have that advantage which makes debates there appear rather surreal - from where I'm standing at any rate. It's enough to realise that the solitary voices of Daphne Caruana Galizia and Salvu Balzan still ring out like some sort of cutting-edge avant-garde anomaly.

The fact that on the ground some people have chosen to adopt different lifestyles and that marriages are breaking down isn't proof that we've suddenly become a secular, liberal nation. A few thousand people sleeping with their lovers and missing their Sunday Mass won't alter the institutional set-up. It takes ideas and free-thinking people who're ready to risk their career to do that.