As we know, as per its namesake this is a place where rubbish or other discarded material is disposed of. It was no small a shock for me as a young boy to find out that its Maltese translation, Il-Miżbla, was the common name of a place where people were buried. It was a shock as I had been taught that people were buried in cemetries.
Titbits of information gleaned from this location and that enabled me to build the mosaic of its history. These poor people were in fact buried inside a cemetary, but in a location unconsecrated by the Church, and separated from the consecrated part by a wall.
It was a location at the Addolorata Cemetery known as “for profanes”. In it were buried those who had not followed the Church’s teachings, or newborns who had died before having been baptised.
Initially I understood this was all a result of a hatred by Dominic Mintoff, MLP leader, of the Church, and his desire to destroy it, and so these were steps that were necessarily taken for the Catholic Church to defend itself.
Later I understood that the story was more complicated than that. Firstly, there was an animosity no less profound by the leader of the Catholic Church, Archbishop Gonzi, who was convinced that Mintoff was extremely left wing, a Communist and atheist.
Secondly, there was the political question of the country’s proposed full integration with the United Kingdom, which Mintoff was initially in favour of. Archbishop Gonzi had opposed this for a number of reasons. One was the fear that British laws on civil marriage and divorce would be applied to Malta, which then did not have them. He feared that integration would mean such matters would be just one of the future introduction of progressive and anti-clerical ideas that would weaken the influence of the Church on the Maltese people. There was also the fear of the Church being subjected to a higher level of taxation.
This all led to Gonzi supporting the Nationalist project under George Borg Olivier for Independence, probably calculating that the interests of the Church were better served with a moderate (read non-Labour) government in Malta. There were reports of priests refusing absolution to those not promising not to vote for the MLP, and some primary school teachers interrogating their students on their parents’ political views.
It has not been the first archbishop who had asked for forgiveness for this, as in 1988 Archbishop Mercieca had also done the same, although then he had not given his blessing to that part of the cemetery.
It warms my heart to see the leaders of my Church showing this type of humility. I’m not cynical and have no doubt they are genuine. Today, the same persons who perhaps in the past had blamed the situation with conviction on Mintoff, his party and supporters for the tricky situation they were in with reference to the Church, today might struggle to justify what took place in the past, in the name of God.
If you think about it, the most that can be said to have been achieved by Gonzi, with his interdiction and directives issued, was to prevent the MLP from being in government in the sixties for 10 years, and halted the march towards civil rights like divorce and others by 50 years. Nevertheless, this right and others objectionable to the Church like same-sex marriage are now the law of the land.
Furthermore, the process of secularisation has well and truly reached the shores of Malta, there was no need for integration with the UK for this to happen. The Maltese people, or at least some of them, still are going to mass and hearing sermons from the pulpits, but also read newspapers, go to schools and universities, and use the internet, and have a plethora of choices from which to form their opinions and value judgements.
As Mintoff observed at the time “The priests will know that sooner or later the wind of change will also reach Malta’s shores”. Prophetic words.
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Bħal ma nafu, din il-kelma tfisser post fejn jinżamm jew jintrema ż-żibel jew xi rmixk ieħor. Kien ta’ xokk mhux żgħir għalija ta’ tifel li kont meta ndunajt li f’Malta kien ukoll l-isem ta’ post fejn kienu jindifnu xi nies. Kien ta’ xokk għaliex kont tgħallimt li n-nies jindifnu f’ċimiterju.
Nisma’ ftit minn hawn u ftit minn hemm bdejt nibni ftit ta’ mużajk tal-istorja. Dan in-nies imsejkna fil-fatt kienu ndifnu ġewwa ċimiterju, imma f’post li ma kienx ikkonsagrat mill-knisja, u maqtugħ mill-parti kkonsagrata minn ħajt.
Kien il-post fl-Addolorata li kien magħruf bħala “tal-Profani”. Fih kienu jindifnu dawk li jew ma mxewx mat-tagħlim tal-Knisja, inkella trabi li jkunu mietu bla ma laħqu ġew mgħammda.
Fil-bidu fhimt li dan kien kollu riżultat tal-mibegħda ta’ Duminku Mintoff, kap tal-MLP, kontra l-Knisja, u r-rieda tiegħu biex jeqridha, u dawn kienu passi meħtieġa li ttieħdu biex il-Knisja Kattolika tiddefendi ruħha.
Iktar tard fhimt li l-istorja kienet iktar ikkumplikata minn hekk. L-ewwelnett, kien hemm animosità xejn inqas profonda mill-kap tal-Knisja Kattolika, l-Arċisqof Gonzi, li kien konvint li Mintoff kien xellugi estrem, Kommunist u ateju.
It-tieninett, kien hemm il-kwestjoni politika tal-integrazzjoni sħiħa proposta mar-Renju Unit, li Mintoff fil-bidu kien ħadem favuriha. Gonzi din kien opponiha għal diversi raġunijiet. Waħda kienet il-biża’ li l-liġijiet Ingliżi taż-żwieġ ċivili u d-divorzju jiġu applikati għal Malta, li dakinhar dawn ma kellhiex. Din beża’ li kienet tkun waħda biss mill-introduzzjoni ta’ ideat progressivi u anti-klerikali li jdgħajfu l-influwenza tal-Knisja fuq il-poplu Malti. Kien hemm ukoll il-biża’ li l-Knisja tkun iktar suġġetta għal tassazzjoni.
Dawn kollha wasslu lil Gonzi li jappoġġja l-proġett Nazzjonalista taħt Ġorġ Borġ Olivier tal-indipendenza, għax aktarx ikkalkula li l-interessi tal-Knisja jitħarsu aħjar bi gvern moderat f’Malta (jiġifieri mhux Laburista). Kien hemm rapporti ta’ qassisin jirrifjutaw l-assoluzzjoni għal min ma jwiegħedx li ma jivvutax għall-Partit Laburista, u li xi għalliema tal-primarja interrogaw lit-tfal tal-iskola fuq il-veduti politiċi tal-ġenituri tagħhom.
Mhux l-ewwel arċisqof li kien talab skuża ta’ dan, għax fl-1988 l-Arċisqof Mercieca kien ukoll talab skuża ta’ dak li kien sar, għalkemm dakinhar ma kienx bierek dik il-parti taċ-ċimiterju.
Jien iqawwili qalbi nara l-mexxejja tal-Knisja tiegħi juru umiltà ta’ dan it-tip. M’iniex ċiniku u ma għandi l-ebda dubju mill-ġenwinità tagħhom. Illum, l-istess persuni li forsi fil-passat kienu waħħlu b’konvinzjoni f’Mintoff, il-partit u s-segwaċi tiegħu għas-sitwazzjoni mwiegħra li kienu spiċċaw fiha fil-konfront mal-Knisja, illum ilaqalqu xi ftit biex jiġġustifikaw dak li sar fil-passat, f’isem Alla.
Jekk toqgħod taħseb ftit, l-iktar li jista’ jingħad li nkiseb minn Gonzi, bl-interdett u d-direttivi li ngħataw, kienet li żammew lill-MLP milli jkunu fil-gvern fis-sittinijiet għal għaxar snin, u mewtu l-mixja ta’ drittijiet ċivili bħad-divorzju u oħrajn b’50 sena. Madankollu, dawn u oħrajn oġġezzjonabbli għall-knisja bħaż-żwieġ ta’ persuni tal-istess sess issa daħlu u huma l-liġi tal-pajjiż.
Iktar minn hekk, il-proċess ta’ sekularizzazzjoni wasal Malta wkoll u bill-kif, ma’ kienx hemm bżonn tal-integrazzjoni mar-Renju Unit għal dan. Il-Maltin għadhom (uħud minnhom) jisimgħu l-quddies u l-priedki mill-pulpti, imma wkoll jaqraw il-gazzetti, imorru l-iskejjel u l-universitajiet, u għandhom l-internet, u għandhom viżibilju minn fejn jiffurmaw l-opinjoni u l-ġudizzju tagħhom.
Bħal ma osserva Mintoff dakinhar ‘il-qassisin għandhom ikun jafu li llum jew għada l-irjeħat tal-bidla jaslu fl-ixtut ta’ Malta wkoll’. Kliem profetiċi.
1Priests and Politicians: Archbishop Michael Gonzi, Dom Mintoff and the End of Empire in Malta; Simon C. Smith; University of Hull;
2https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/archbishop-blesses-mizbla-tombs-and-asks-for-forgiveness.746760, retrieved 27/11/2019
1Priests and Politicians: Archbishop Michael Gonzi, Dom Mintoff and the End of Empire in Malta; Simon C. Smith; University of Hull;
2https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/archbishop-blesses-mizbla-tombs-and-asks-for-forgiveness.746760, retrieved 27/11/2019
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