According to the Times of Malta of last Friday, former Maltese priest Vanni Xuereb stated that:
"I had mixed feelings when Archbishop Charles Scicluna asked me to form part of a national delegation that would be taking part in the (Re)Thinking Europe dialogue organised at the Vatican by the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE) and the Holy See to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome which established the European Economic Community."
Further on, he said:
"Undoubtedly, the highlight of the dialogue was the address by Pope Francis who, after his speech, greeted all participants individually. It was my first-ever close personal encounter with him. I have also had the privilege to meet both his immediate predecessors, however, on a personal note, this was the most meaningful since it is thanks to Pope Francis that I can still somehow identify with the Catholic Church.
At a moment in time when I felt I was drifting away because of what I was perceiving as an increasing irrelevance of the Church, this Pope has shown that there is a different way of being Church – one that is inclusive rather than exclusive."
According to slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the former Fr Vanni Xuereb now lives with another person who has a son. This would explain his comment concerning Pope Francis but also his perceived distaste of Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II.
One hopes that the Catholic Church in Malta is not going to step any further in the post-Amoris Laetitia world. Already enough damage is being done by the easy granting of Catholic 'divorces' nowadays. So why would a former priest be considered as the best person that the Catholic Church in Malta could choose to represent it? No doubt that Xuereb is very knowledgeable about the EU but such a choice still seems inappropriate in our point of view.
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