The media yesterday published an article so that it gives the version of the parish priest of Paola, after it received backlash from the public regarding turning the roof of the church into a cafeteria and a lounge.
“The parish priest of Paola has defended plans to use part of the basilica’s roof for a cafeteria, stressing the importance of supporting urgently needed restoration works.”
The media first tried to frame your mind to create the backlash, and now it is reframing your mind to see this in a different light and accept it, and it managed. This site will continue to hold on to its principles and say no to this project.
“In his first interview on the controversy, the parish priest showed Times of Malta his plans for the eatery and defended it, saying: ‘I don’t think God will be offended with a project like this.’” Father Marc Andre Camilleri, I do not know you so what I will be writing here is being done with my hands on my heart out of love and respect.
I start by saying and repeating what I wrote in another blog, that I am very sorry for all those honest priests who have to work under this one whole big business organization called the church. I am also aware that priests are becoming so few in number, that their multi-faceted duties are too many for them to carry. Hence, my respect. But the first question I want to ask you is, ‘Did you ask God if He will be offended or not with a project like this?” Through prayers, in stillness, and even by using people, God always provides the answer. But we have it on black and white in the bible that when Christ went into the temple of God, he cast all those that were selling and buying in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers. With a cafeteria, won’t you be selling while clients will be buying? Isn’t this a kind of trade which Christ condemns inside a temple of God?
A church cannot be turned into a piece of business, and this is the point that this site is strongly standing up for. Surely I understand that the church, as a building, needs maintenance, which costs. I understand that priests encounter a lot of challenges, thanks to the profit-making organization they are part of. On the other hand, I am truly against the riches that many of those huge, spacious churches, were filled with and which now are very hard to maintain. In my humble opinion, I would always opt for small churches or chapels, as bare as possible, but which lead me truly to Christ. While St. Francis of Assisi was praying at the church of San Damiano, he heard Jesus speak to him from the crucifix, telling him, ‘Go, rebuild my church, which is falling down.’ Jesus was not telling Francis to physically rebuild the collapsing church building, but to rebuild the spiritual church through the people. This can only be done in the manner that Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel does: to continuously elevate the name of Christ, while not being afraid to say the truth, even if it offends others. Understanding the power of the Holy Spirit, he also spoke about the satanic agendas which the world is going through. Even though he preaches from a very small and non-luxurious church, he still gained thousands of followers who found hope and Christ in his teachings. We are going and we will be going through hard times. A cafeteria on top of the roof of a church won’t do it in the long run. Bishop Mari never asked and never collected money but during the lockdowns, thanks to the community coming together, they prepared hampers for all those who lost their job or were struggling during the lockdowns during which he never closed his church. However, they do accept donations which one can check on their website.
Such traits of the bishop are very rare in today’s priests, and the rest of the clergy, who are leading the church and souls to a dry, spiritual desert. Priests today are becoming a social and psychological decoration of a money-making organization. I am sorry for those honest ones who have to work in such an organization.
And no, I am not a whiner. And no, I won’t be the first to go and have a coffee. And no, I am not a Christ hater or an atheist. Christ is my everything and my life. And no, I am not allowing the media to distract me. And no, I do not agree with the usual popolin mentality and shifts in thinking the minute the media washes their brain, again! And no, I do not see it as a practical and realistic way. And no, simply because churches abroad have a cafeteria, it does not mean that local churches follow suit. The church should know that it should not pertain to anything that this world sells and gives. And no, I do not see it as a way to increase church attendance. Church attendance is not increased by turning the church into a piece of business. And no, it is not a case of ‘U ijja. It’s just a volunteer-run rooftop cafeteria, which will turn out to keep the maintenance of the church.’ It is a piece of business and no, again I do not believe Church attendance will increase with a rooftop cafeteria, but rather people will associate the Poala Church with entertainment. And yes, I do have my own formed idea and I am talking from my spiritual stance. Love me or hate me. I am who I am.
Where is Christ in all this, Fr Camilleri?
The irony is that Fr Camilleri stressed that “donations from the church’s congregation ‘barely covered’ staffing.” Of course. So now, this capitalist, artificial godless nation which was bought by a godless century, will rather pay for a coffee on the church’s rooftop rather than give a donation to the church.
Fr Camilleri added, ‘I don’t want to get to a point where I have to ask people to pay to come to church. Tell me, what am I to do? Where am I going to get the money from?’
Father Marc, this is my humble advice. The people do not need more cafeterias. The people have thirst for the word of God. There will come a time in the near future, where people will ask God for mercy. There will come a time in the near future, when people would want to go to church, but there will be no church. In a few years’ time, there won’t be enough priests and many churches will be permanently closed. And no cafeteria will do it. We are already going through a crisis of the faith. It will get worse when we start living in a new world order of atheistic, secular societies of earth worship, albeit we are being programmed to think that it is fine and that it is that reality which will give us happiness.
But since up until now, until we go cashless, we still live in a society where money solves the problems, how can we go about it? And since we still have those big churches and we still have to see what to do with them, even though they are becoming emptier by the minute, with an unfortunate anti-clerical sentiment which has been sown in the hearts of the people through the mainstream media, how can we go about it? If I were a parish priest, I would hit the nail on its head in a creative way, through prayer and guidance from God. I would first see what are the needs of the community and start offering services through the church against a small fee for that service for the same needs of the community. What do the elderly love? What do they need? How would they love to be supported by the church? What do the youth need? What do families need? What do adults need? And then, through brainstorming, I would test what works and keep and adapt accordingly. For example: music lessons, counselling sessions; counselling through theology; the setting up of a youth club for young people to meet and interact and where they can even organise fundraising events outside of the church premises, for the church; biblical courses; a fundraising activity in the square; a pilgrimage abroad; an educational film night; plays or musicals about the lives of saints; a musical concert of hymns or classical music inside the church; a setup of a choir which will then give concerts; Art and Craft lessons; Art exhibitions; and any other beneficial service that can be beneficial to the community of Paola but through which it can raise funds. In this way, the church will be assisting the community and vice-versa, the community will be assisting the church. During these times where many people are struggling economically, being offered a service at an affordable price but through which they can grow holistically, is a blessing from God, rather than going to the rooftop cafeteria of Christ the King basilica, to have a coffee and leave. A healing individual is a healing community and a healing community is a healing church, that church which Christ asked St Francis to build. Offering services is not the same as running a business. This is the church being of service to humanity.
In addition, I also think that through prayers, and asking for help from the community to carry out the maintenance work in the church, free of charge, help will come. It might not come in the way we envisage, as God works in mysterious ways, but it will come.
This takes me to 1 Corinthians 16:14, the closing verses of apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthian church, in which Paul returned to the theme of loving God and loving others as the believer’s ultimate ambition: ‘Let all that you do be done in love,’ that is, love for God and fellow humans is to inspire and govern everything we do:
Corinthians 16:14: Let all your things be done with charity, signifying, that the whole of our obedience to Christ, our observation of, and subjection to all His ordinances and commands, should spring from, and be done in love to Him; and that the whole of our conduct and behaviour towards one another ought to be with charity, which bears all things, and covers a multitude of sins; and that all their church affairs, their business at church meetings, should be transacted, not with strife and vain glory, but in peace, and with mutual affection, with a concern for the good of each other, and of the whole body, and for the glory of God; for without charity or love, and the exercise of this grace, it signifies little what men either have or do; and such an exhortation was the more necessary to this church, since it was so full of factions, contentions, and divisions.
As we are at this stage, the world is going through disorderly worship. I do not have hope that things will get better for now, not unless whole nations return to Christ. And while they do that, they must regain what makes them human and get active to push back the agendas of Satan and his minions – the world’s rulers. Because this unprecedented time in the history of humankind has nothing to do with sitting back, doing nothing and waiting for Christ in His second coming to save you!
A rooftop cafeteria won’t help people return to Christ, Father Camilleri, because without charity or love, and the exercise of this grace, it signifies little what men either have or do. A rooftop cafeteria won’t help you bring Jesus at the heart of your parish.
God bless you and you are in my prayers. As God’s will unfolds in your life, may the parish you are in charge of, flourishes with non-material blessings from Almighty God and may God guide you to rebuild His church which is falling down, as St. Francis was asked to do.