Malta has voted in a referendum to legalise divorce.
It is the last country in Europe, apart from the Vatican, to do so. Outside Europe, the only other country which does not permit divorce is the Philippines.
Last year Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, an MP with the Nationalist party, presented a private member’s bill along with Evarist Bartolo, an MP with the opposition Labour party.
This bill proposed that people could divorce after living apart for four years, and as long as spouses and dependents were provided for. The government decided to put the proposal to a referendum.
The referendum was passed by a narrow margin of 52pc to 48pc.
Pro-divorce campaigners say that there are already plenty of separations in Malta, and that these people should be allowed to marry again.
However the No campaign argues that the institution of marriage is strong in Malta precisely because couples do not have the option of a fall-back position.
The Catholic bishops of Malta have urged the overwhelmingly Catholic population of the small island to reject the proposal. Ninety five per cent of Maltese voters belong to the Catholic Church.
In a pastoral letter on the eve of the vote, they said that marriage and the family “form the natural core which is essential for a person to live and grow within an atmosphere of genuine love, as well as for the building of a strong society”.
“For this reason, Jesus Christ teaches us that marriage – which goes hand in hand with the dignity of mankind – should, by its very nature, be a permanent bond.”
The bishops acknowledged the pain of those whose marriages had broken down, but said that legalising divorce would not solve the problem.
Instead, “as a gesture of love towards those who are suffering, and towards future generations, we must together try and improve the conditions of marriage and the family.”
“By his vote, the citizen will either build or destroy,” they said, posing the question of divorce as a fork in the road for Malta’s future.
“A choice in favour 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 favour 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.”
