Are some members of the clergy horny and/or greedy?

The Observer is well aware of that this article might upset religious people especially members of the clergy, but it is an interesting subject that is well worth discussing. Many of The Observer’s Maltese friends say the same thing: Many Catholic priests in Malta have “girlfriends” and many priests ask for kickbacks from the undertakers.

The Maltese people the Observer has spoken to say that it is a well-known secret that many Catholic priests have girlfriends. It is also said that this is very natural since priests have the same sexual desire as every other men. Since the Catholic Church does not allow priests to marry, the priests have no other option (at least not such pleasant ones) but to have girlfriends in secret. Some of the people The Observer have spoken to also claim that it is not unusual that the priests meet women during confession and then learn about the women’s moral character and then can make their move. True or not true? We know that Catholic priest in many cases have taken advantage of young boys so why should this not be even more possible?

Many of The Observer’s Maltese friends also claim that priests advise funeral directors about recently deceased and then ask for kickbacks for the tip. The reason why this is possible for priests is that priests are often called to death-beds to give last rites and often know very soon that someone has passed away. It is also said that priests in such situation take advantage of the situation when a person is very vulnerable and asks for a donation to the Catholic Church. AlphaIf this is true, it is extremely offensive and immoral, especially the custom of taking kickbacks.

It would be interesting to hear what the readers of this blog think in this subject.

Arriva bus drivers, madmen?

Notice the text on the bus to Marsaxlokk

Prospective Formel-1 champion

Yesterday The Observer went by bus to Marsaxlokk from Valletta, leaving the capital at about 10.40 am. The bus, which was an articulated bus, i e extra-long, had a sign saying it was a special tour and The Observer agrees, the tour was indeed a special one. The bus was completely full with passengers, both sitting and standing. The bus went sometimes in a speed that must have been more than 80 kilometers per hour. Several passengers were terrified, staring at each other in horror. It felt like the back of the bus would skid across the roadway in the curves. It was indeed a special and terrifying tour! Unfortunately, this type of experience is not unusual when going with Arriva buses although there are, of course, also careful drivers.

Menade du: Blivande Formel-1 världsmästare

Skriv text, ange adressen till en webbplats eller översätt ett dokument.

Avbryt

Alpha

The Maltese people, warm and kind

The entrance

San Anton Garden

Yesterday, The Observer with family went to Balzan. After some shopping we wanted to sit down and eat the lunch we had brought with us, preferable in a park. We asked a Maltese lady standing outside Smart, the big department store, if she could recommend a place where we could have our lunch. She told us that there is a lovely garden in Balzan, San Anton, but that it would be too complicated to explain the way to this garden. Instead she told us that she would gladly drive us there and so she did! This is not the first time we have been so well taken care of by Maltese people. The kindness of the Maltese people is one of the things that makes life so much easier on this little tiny island. San Anton in Balzan is really worth a visit with wonderful flowers and many other plants as well as birds!

What should we protect, living people or dead?

Once more, one can read the most fantastic true stories in The Times. AlphaIn today's edition of The Times one is told that a group of M`garr residents are complaining about a proposed extension to a fireworks factory because of the damage an explosion would do. Fair enough, of course one should worry about what damage an explosion would do. But what is it the group worries about? The living people in the neighborhood? No, this is Christian Malta; the worries are not concerning the living people but the dead. This despite the fact that several people are statistically expected to die this year because of fireworks explosions. The Observer is well aware of the fact that many Maltese regard the eternal life as the real life, but is this group not going too far? A named couple says that an explosion could disturb the graves of loved ones. The Observer is well aware that continuing this article would probably be considered blasphemy. Presumably this is a criminal offense in Maltese law so The Observer rests his case.

Again, the Maltese judicial system is proven to have collapsed and now it also seems ridiculous

Today one can read in The Times of a man being sentenced to one month in prison and fined 233€ for illegal gambling. The fantastic and almost unbelievable fact is that the crime was committed in 2001 and the man pleaded guilty in 2002. The man had to wait ten years to be punished for a crime he had admitted almost immediately! To make this even more surprising (well, maybe not so surprising; this is probably typically for the judicial system in Malta) the judge found that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against the man, but, since he had admitted the crime the judge had to find him guilty. The Observer sincerely hopes that the latter is not true. In most other countries, with a more sophisticated and functioning judicial system than Malta, an admission is not enough to prove that a person has committed a crime.  When famous murders occur, quite many people come to the police and plead guilty. This is a well-known fact among Alphacriminologists. Probably and hopefully The Times has not published full details about why the judge had to find the man guilty.

Teenage births once more

In todays The Times the problem with teenage pregnancies is addressed again. In the article it is said that Angela Abela, a clinical psychologist and the director of the University’s Centre for Family Studies, not only is asking questions but also has the key which is education and early intervention. With early intervention she does not mean intervention as early as before conception; no, she means by early intervention the time when the teenager still is pregnant. In a more modern society that would be the right approach, because then it might still be time for abortion. That is, of course, not what Ms Abela had in mind. No, she wants to involve the young father. One can wonder if she really believes that a teenage father can mature in such a short time and be a responsible father. Of course he cannot. Ms Abela seems to mean that one of the keys to solve the problem is to give instructions on how best to deal with a situation where a teenager is still pregnant or have given birth. It is of course commendable, but it does not solve the problem that Malta has the highest rate of teenage mothers in the EU related to the population. The solution must be to strive to prevent teen pregnancy. This can only happen through sex education ( in which one might even strongly discourage adolescents to have sex outside marriage, this is, after all, Malta), contraception counseling, access to contraceptives and, something that is not the case for Malta in perhaps 20-30 years, free abortions. The problem with teenage mothers will persist as long as you do not introduce sex education and teaching about contraception and its use. It is as simple as that. Malta is, however, in many ways far behind the more modern EU states and the Catholic Church is in many ways responsible for this. See also The Observers article in this subject of March 14

Malta is not the centre of the world

In today’s The Times one can read a veryAlpha interesting article under Social by Kristina Chetcuti. She has a view on Malta and Maltese 'view of themselves which is very readable. She confirms what The Observer wrote under the heading "Malta-a Lilliput state with potentates separated from and above the people?", that Maltese people are ignorant about the world around them and that is something intrinsically wrong with the Maltese perspective, adding that there is high time to address this. Well said! The Observer could not agree more!