Malta’s parliament legalizes divorce
July 27, 2011
The parliament of Malta--one of the world’s few officially Catholic nations--has legalized divorce in a 53-11 vote following its approval by 53% of voters in a May referendum.
The nation’s bishops had spoken against the measure prior to the referendum, as had Pope Benedict during his 2010 apostolic visit to the nation.
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Further information:
- Malta passes law in favour of divorce (Vatican Radio)
- MPs in Catholic Malta pass historic law on divorce (BBC)
- Malta: voters approve legalization of divorce (CWN, 5/30)
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Posted by: -
Jul. 28, 2011 1:35 AM ET USA
Don't blame the politicians, Blame the People. It is very popular to make a false dichotomy between the "people", and the "politicians", as if politicians are some off-breed. In a democracy, we are all politicians. It is our own choices that get these people into power. Same thing in America. American politicians haven't destroyed this country, the American voter has.
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Posted by: Chestertonian -
Jul. 27, 2011 11:26 PM ET USA
While I do NOT approve of easy or "no-fault" divorce--not at all!--I am divorced AND annulled from a man who emotionally and mentally manipulated me prior to marriage and physically abused me after. No, I should not have married him, but all women need to be able to escape abusers, with legal ramifications if the abuser tries to continue contact. Annullment alone won't provide that. But, nor do I approve of divorce w/o annullment. It helped me heal and understand what went wrong.
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Posted by: DrJazz -
Jul. 27, 2011 12:41 PM ET USA
Proving once again that, in many cases, democratically elected leaders don't vote the will of the people as much as they try to steer it. 53% of Maltan voters voted to legalize divorce, which means that at least 47% of citizens do not approve of it. In the parliament, almost 83% of members voted to legalize it, which means their corruption is further along than that of the people they purportedly serve.
