It’s the way of the cross again for Alfred Sant as the Nationalist Party puts the Opposition leader’s personal religious beliefs under the spotlight in highlighting his “refusal to kiss the crucifix when taking an oath”.
Last Wednesday, Sant appeared in court in a libel case instituted against him by Water Services chairman Michael Falzon but the news item that caught the Nationalist media’s attention was the fact that he did not kiss the cross when taking an oath.
The item made headlines on all the PN’s media, including the following day’s front page on In-Nazzjon – Sant jirrifjuta li jiehu gurament bis-salib – even though it was no news that the Harvard graduate would make a solemn declaration instead of kissing the cross.
That’s just what he did upon his swearing in as prime minister in 1996, although he did kiss the cross in Parliament when taking his oath as an MP. Sant also went for the mass of Dun Gorg’s canonisation at the Vatican last June.
But in contrast with the PN media’s priority given to Sant’s “refusal to kiss the cross”, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi distanced himself from the story.
“This is a highly personal issue and I believe that it should be left to the individual to decide for him or herself,” Gonzi, a former president of the Catholic Action, said when asked for his stand.
On the other hand, secretary-general Joe Saliba, who is credited with being in control of the party media, neither returned our calls nor answered questions sent by email about it.