Cardinal sins and other damned decisions

Some names are made to stand out. There was a cardinal – a prince of the Catholic Church no less! – called Jaime Lachica Sin.

Odder dreams have happened because beyond a few real fans of Bishop Grech who could have imagined that he was to become a cardinal? It is rumoured that his Vatican connections got him the job. I’m sure someone else Maltese who has a better CV could have been found. But our man from Gozo prevailed over all comers.

This cardinal, however, was far from known for his sins. He fought against the great oppressors and antidemocracy leaders of the Philippines, Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos.

I have no idea how cardinals get their position. I doubt if they submit a CV like us normal mortals. And do they have to go through a number of rigorous interviews where they are grilled, checked and given a few aptitude tests?

I don’t think there have been too many cardinals begotten, bred and baptised in Malta. The last Maltese cardinal, Prospero, was fully native but he was what locals call a kannol bla krema (a non-voting specimen; the literal translation is a cream-less, thus useless, creamhorn).

Throughout his tenure Cardinal Prospero, unlike his namesake in the Shakespearean play, could wreak no magic. If a papal vacancy had cropped up, he could not vote, and he certainly could not be chosen to be pope. He was too old so all in all he was a toothless prince of the church with little hope of climbing higher or swaying any votes in a papal enclave.

Last week, like a magician coming from the fabled land of Gozo, Bishop Mario Grech was elevated – or is soon to be – to cardinal. Not only is he young enough to vote, he also fits the age requirements for popes. Bishop Grech even has the regal gait which could come in handy as pope.

That, of course, is a dream that can hardly ever be fulfilled. Imagine! A pope from the Maltese archipelago. Our man from Gozo, population under 30,000, taking over the reins of Christ’s church and leader of some billion odd Catholics.

Odder dreams have happened because beyond a few real fans of Bishop Grech who could have imagined that he was to become a cardinal? It is rumoured that his Vatican connections got him the job. I’m sure someone else Maltese who has a better CV could have been found. But our man from Gozo prevailed over all comers.

Just as he won this surprising appointment maybe, just a tiny maybe, the cardinals – if called to fill a papal vacancy – could end up falling for the grace of His Grace, Bishop Mario Grech, who will soon be His Eminence.

I should applaud anything that is achieved by a local boy. And seeing a Gozitan climb up from unexpected and unassuming surroundings to be given such a top position in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church should be considered a red-letter day for our country.

The pope, who appoints these cardinals personally, might consider our new cardinal the best choice to propel the church forward. Forgive me my sin but I truly beg to differ.

Bishop – soon cardinal – Grech has hardly excelled in preaching Christ’s – and Pope Francis’s own mantra of mercy, acceptance of sinners and forgiveness. While the divorce referendum raged, he raved, ranted and savaged anything and anyone approaching acceptance of divorce. He was, of course, following the church’s stand in Malta which was anti-modernist and attacked the fundamental right of anyone needing a proper legal arrangement if their marriage failed.

Bishop Grech – as was his trait – took it to an extent of horror. By some supernaturally strange whim I attended mass celebrated by him a few weeks before the divorce referendum took place.

There the bishop preached fire and brimstone. He railed and looked as if he might damn some of the congregation straight to the pits of hell. His sermon was spiteful, it was a leap into medieval modes. The worst thing was that the congregation was mainly made up of young children all dressed up and attentive, waiting to be confirmed. In Catholic terms they became the new “soldiers of Christ”.

The total irony of the military descriptor is frightening. This man, this bishop, this future cardinal, instead of talking of love, happiness and compassion to young minds, spewed hatred, fear and menace.

If this is what the bishop turned cardinal is going to pass on to the Catholic flock or be able to do to children all over the world, God help us from such men and such diabolical decisions.