Malta: Prime Minister Muscat announces the new government. Mgr. Curmi (general vicar), “now, reconciliation based on justice”

Today, the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, introduced the new government, basically a reshuffle of the previous one, with a few new faces. The fifteen ministers will be sworn in tomorrow. Asked by SIR to comment on the election of June 3^rd, which has given confidence to Labour Party leader Muscat again, the general vicar of the diocese of Malta, mgr. Joseph Galea Curmi, said: “The Church does not enter into party politics; it is always ready to collaborate with the country’s leaders in the pursuit of the common good and of a just society which cherishes ethical values”. Before the election, the bishops had explained in a Pastoral Letter “that the main question” is “what kind of society do we want for ourselves and for the future generations”. The vicar hopes now “there will be an analysis on what kind of society is reflected in the election results; it is in this society that the Church has to exercise its pastoral ministry”. One of the priorities, after a very harsh election campaign, is “to promote reconciliation: that is a message the archbishop of Malta and the bishop of Gozo have constantly emphasised”, goes on mgr. Galea Curmi, and which is also mentioned in the Pastoral Letter. “It should be a reconciliation based on truth and justice, on the respect of the rule of law and the correct functioning of the country’s institutions, where leaders shoulder their responsibility without fear or favour”, mgr. Galea Curmi concludes.