The Bishops of Malta and Gozo wrote a letter to the Prime
Minister Eddie Fenech Adami about the draft EU constitutional treaty expressing
their appreciation towards the efforts of the Maltese delegates in the
convention.
The letter is signed by the Archbishop Guzeppi Mercieca as the president of the
Maltese Bishops Conference and represents the Bishop for Gozo Nikol Cauchi and
the Auxiliary Bishop Annetto Depasquale.
While expressing the gratitude of the Maltese Church for the work of all the
members nominated by Government and Parliament in the Convention, they said
that the Church in Europe expressed various hesitations regarding some points.
The bishops said that since the Charter for Fundamental Rights will be part of
the Constitution, the protection of citizens would be strengthened. However
there are many important points that are missing in this charter, particularly
about cloning, marriage and freedom of religion, they argued.
Regarding the preamble of the draft constitution, the bishops stated that this
creates serious difficulties to the Church. They said that the contribution of
Christianity should be referred to in this preamble for its share in Europe.
Besides, they continued, a reference to God as the “supreme being guaranteeing
liberty and dignity of the human being” should be included in the European
Constitution.
In their letter to the Prime Minister, the bishops said that now that the draft
is in the hands of the governments for reflection and to take the final
decisions in the Intergovernmental Conference, they urged the Maltese
Government to keep in mind the observations of the Church.
The Church in Malta would also like to give its contributions in the
discussions, said the bishops and confirmed the Church’s wish to participate in
the MUESEC.