(May 30, 2011) Citizens of the Mediterranean island nation of Malta have voted to
legalize divorce, making a choice that the country's Catholic bishops have warned
will lead to family breakdown and a loss of religious identity. “Even though the
result is not what I wished for, now it is our duty to see that the will of the majority
is respected,” said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in a speech on Sunday, acknowledging
the outcome of the May 28 referendum. The divorce bill will now go before Parliament
for a final decision which is likely to be approved. Catholics account for the vast
majority – up to 98 percent – of Malta’s 400,000 people. For decades the island has
remained one of the few countries in the world that did not permit divorce, although
it did allow for the annulment of illegitimate marriages. Malta’s Catholic bishops
had made their opposition to divorce clear in the run-up to the referendum, particularly
in their May 21 pastoral letter. “A choice in favor of permanent marriage is an act
of faith in the family, built upon a bond of love which cannot be severed,” they wrote.
“Whereas a choice in favor of divorce leads to the further destruction of marriage
and the family and, as a consequence, the destruction of values and the quality of
life.”