[Catholic Caucus] Malta’s Archbishop Celebrates Mass Marking 20 Years of Drachma LGBTI+ Ministry

A key Vatican official joined with Maltese LGBTQ+ Catholics and allies to celebrate 20 years of inclusive ministry in the country, with the prelate telling attendees: “We accept each other as siblings; and we welcome each other as a precious gift.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta joined Drachma LGBTI+ for Mass on September 17th to mark the organization’s two decades of pastoral work with faithful from the island nation noted both for its strong Catholic identity and leadership on LGBTQ+ rights. According to Drachma’s Facebook page:

“Several priests concelebrated and the event was attended by past and current members as well as relatives, friends and all those who collaborated and interacted with Drachma in the past two decades. At the end of the mass, the Archbishop was presented with a painting created by local artist Ellie Abela and symbolising the early beginnings of Drachma and its growth and flourishing through the years. The evening ended with a moment of fellowship and social time together as those present reminisced past experiences of Drachma and expressed hope and enthusiasm for the future.”

In his homily, Scicluna, who also serves as an adjunct secretary at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, preached about the centrality of reconciliation—with God, with oneself, and with others. The Gospel reading was the parable of the drachma, from which the Maltese organization derives its name, also known as the parable of the lost coin in which a woman searches for a lost coin and celebrates its discovery. Scicluna commented (via Google Translate):

“It is worth looking for the drachma because God always looks for you and lets you find him. . .But the point that Jesus wants to convey is not about how much money you spent to have a party but that it is good to rejoice when you find again something precious that has gone away or that you cannot see. It was found with a look of mercy, with a look of love, with the eagerness that where there were ten, there would not be nine, but everyone would be there. This is the emphasis of Pope Francis on World Youth Day when he tells them in Spanish ‘todos, todos, todos’ (everyone, everyone, everyone). In the integrity of those ten, there is this desire of God to see us all together, all brothers, we all respect each other; we accept each other as brothers; and we welcome each other as a precious gift. That’s how we have the Lord’s gaze on each other.”

Scicluna then narrowed in on the forms of reconciliation to which Jesus invites people. He exhorted attendees:

“Brothers and sisters, first of all we must be reconciled with ourselves. Do you love yourself? Are you reconciled with yourself? Are you reconciled with your life story? Are you reconciled with the people the Lord brought you together with? It is possible that we humans hurt each other, serve each other and exploit each other. . .

“Many times we need to be reconciled with the heavenly Father. Sometimes there are moments where you wish you were different. But isn’t it better to be reconciled with God who is your mouth and who loves you? His look is the one that really gives you the joy that no one can take away from you, the peace of the heart.

“Then brothers, we must be reconciled with each other. Reconciled with the society that does not always understand us; reconciled even with the Church, which sometimes used harsh and harsh labels and words against some of us. Obviously, the conversion is not one way; the conversion must also be two way. So we also pray, that the Church has the heart of the Lord.”

Scicluna concluded by noting that God’s mercy “can radically change us and give us the power to reach that maturity in the relationships between us and in our loves that we pass from infatuation to love; that instead of exploitation there is true friendship.”

Archbishop Scicluna has been an increasingly positive advocate for LGBTQ+ Catholics. In 2022, he encouraged parents to accept LGBTQ+ children as a mandate of the Gospel. That same year, he also rebuked a priest who made anti-gay comments, going so far as to threaten the priest with sanctions if the harmful rhetoric continued. In 2019, at the Vatican’s summit on clergy sexual abuse, Scicluna repeatedly rejected any link between gay priests and abuse. In 2015, Scicluna did not punish—and even affirmed—the LGBTQ+ outreach ministry of a priest who blessed a same-gender couple’s union. He has said the church should apologize to LGBTQ+ people (though opposed civil unions), and he condemned “conversion therapy” with an apology for a church report which had supported it.

In related news, the coordinator of Drachma Parents, Louisa Grech, wrote an op-ed in the Times of Malta a few weeks later defending the island’s LGBTQ+ rights movement from critics who claim it seeks “undeserved privileges.” Grech stated that the movement is not asking for privileges,” it “was asking for rights.” She spoke then of Catholic parents’ experiences:

“As parents of gender or sexual diverse individuals we speak up on the grounds that it is very disturbing when people, who consider themselves more privileged than others, feel entitled to endanger the mental and physical well-being of our children by sowing seeds of fear, of harsh judgement and, unfortunately, in some cases also of hate. . .

“Our children are not aliens! They are very much human, with a heart and soul that feels when it is loved and when it is not.

“They are persons who wish to love and to be loved, persons who are capable of making faithful and long-term commitments in their relationships, their family and their careers.

“Our children are a gift and a blessing!”﷯

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, November 16, 2024