The Maltese Imbroglio by B.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California, U. S. A. · Jul 8, 1930

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 57, No. 26.

The Maltese Imbroglio

By B.

The people of Malta are Roman Catholic in religion, but the island is a British Colony. The governor, Lord Strickland, is a Catholic; but he has ideas about the church in politics that make him decidedly persona non grata with the two bishops there and with the pope at Rome. It transpires that he is more British than Catholic, for he maintains that the civil law is above canon law, and he refuses to exempt the clergy from process in civil courts. The governor has declared for political independence, while the church authorities there insist that religious allegiance and political subservience must be identical.

As a result of these “heretical” statements of Lord Strickland, the bishops have forbidden priests to administer the sacraments to any Maltese who might vote for Lord Strickland, and the newspapers were placed under a severe censorship by the church. The pope, in a recent “White Paper,” insists that the British Government either recall Lord Strickland or severely reprimand him.

This is but another example of the attempted dominance of the state by the Catholic Church in a country where the people are predominantly Catholic. It holds that when its members constitute a majority in any land the church then has a duty to take a firm hand in political affairs. In such a situation the state is practically annexed to the church, and church dignitaries become the virtual rulers and dictators in the state. This is the established and age-long policy of the church, as borne out by her practice in many lands and in all ages. B.