[First posted on Facebook on 09 January 2024]

Archbishop Scicluna (archbishop of Malta, but also Adjunct Secretary to the DDF) gave a wide range interview on Times of Malta a few days back (and kudos to Mark Laurence Zammit). Well worth listening to — and I must say that the English subtitles, while quite correct, find it hard to do justice to the original Maltese … which I find more down-to-earth, more direct, and with a good dose of humour.

The opening section on priestly celibacy is the one that got most publicity so far. I find that the section on Fiducia supplicans is refreshing. Clearly things are in maturation, but it refreshing …

The section I quote starts at 4:15 [my quite literal English translation follows]:

(I double-checked my transcript in Maltese … but if in doubt, please listen to the interview):

[4:15] Jekk hemm l-imħabba, hemm l-ideal possibli bejn żewġ persuni, ħa nibdew minn dik. Ħafna drabi aħna nistħu mill-kelma “mħabba”. U l-imħabba għalina m’hix biss l-imħabba matrimonjali. Bejn żewġt iħbieb hemm imħabba vera.

Issa hemm l-imħabba matrimonjali. L-imħabba fiż-żwieġ hija – t-tagħlim tagħna huwa sod ħafna u ma naħsibx li huwa negotiable – huwa bejn raġel u mara, miftuħ għad-don tat-tfal. Wara kollox huma l-gameti ta’ mara u raġel li joħolqu tifel jew tifla.

Imma, hemm relazzjonijiet oħra li jistħoqqilhom il-barka ta’ Alla. Jien meta nara koppja gay u niltaqa’ magħhom li napprezza fihom hija l-imħabba ġenwina. Jien li nammira u li nbierek dawn il-koppji hija l-impenn ta’ l-imħabba u dak ħadd ma jista’ jiċħdu.

***

If there is love, there is the possible ideal between two persons, let’s start from that. Many times we are ashamed of the word “love”. And love for us is not only matrimonial love. Between two friends there is also true love.

Now, there’s matrimonial love. Love in marriage is — our teaching on this is very solid and I don’t think it is negotiable — is between a man and a woman, open to the gift of children. After all it is the gametes of a woman and a man that create a son or daughter.

But there are other relationships that merit God’s blessing. When I see a gay couple, and meet them, what I appreciate in them is genuine love. What I admire and what I bless in these couples is the commitment of love, and this cannot be denied.

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You can read the full article (in English), and watch the interview (in Maltese), here:
https://timesofmalta.com/article/watch-don-t-expect-church-opposition.1076682