Malta’s Green Party has reiterated their call for the nation’s constitution to become secular, removing Roman Catholicism as the country’s official religion.

“Malta’s Constitution should be considered as a living document, reflecting the values and aspirations of the Maltese,” Carmel Cacopardo, Chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika said in a Constitutional Steering Committee chaired by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

“A revised constitution would recognise and reflect these strides and how the country today embraces ethical pluralism,” Cacopardo continued.”Hence, instead of the Constitution linking with one religious set of beliefs, the Roman Catholic, it should spell out its respect for all religions compatible with the democratic state.”

AD said some aspects of the 60-year-old Constitution had become “awkward” in our modern era

“The constitution, in its present form, is the result of debates over an almost 60-year time-frame, and the consolidated compromises within seem awkward in our present day reality,” Cacopardo continued.

“We need to understand the context which led to these conclusions and compromises because they led to the country moving forward,” he said. “In order to improve our constitution we cannot start afresh but we must appreciate the achievements of our predecessors and plan the next steps on this basis. This will lead us to improve the situation and produce a better constitutional document.”

Speaking to Lovin Malta, Cacopardo said it was “clear” that the Maltese population had moved on from 1964, when the constitution was drafted

“Malta has since experienced the divorce referendum, and subsequently the issues of LGBTQ+ rights and gay marriage. The logical consequence is that our values are more plural than Roman Catholic values, so it’s no longer correct to state that Malta’s religion is Roman Catholic,” he said.

He also pointed out that the Archbishop had “no problem” with the removal of Article 2 of Malta’s constitution, the article determining Catholicism as Malta’s official religion.

Indeed, Archbishop Charles Scicluna had said: “If Catholicism were removed from the constitution as an official religion, the Church would live on.”

“I am comfortable with our religion being on the same level as other religions. This is the kind of liberty I insist upon,” he had said in an interview with Andrew Azzopardi on Radju Malta last year.
“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 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,” the Archbishop said.

AD had also called for this change to the constitution in their 2013 and 2017 election manifestos.

Featured Image Original Photo by Karen Liao

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]