On Sunday, 17 August 2025, Archbishop Charles Scicluna stood before a congregation in St Paul’s Bay and decried those who, in his words, “drag through the mud those who try to speak in favour of what is right.”

But one could hardly miss the irony. The Archbishop seemed to forget his own silence in the face of repeated injustices within Church schools—silence that allowed undemocratic and anti-trade union practices to flourish unchallenged. His refusal to engage, whether by design or neglect, enabled the suppression of trade union officials who were simply defending the rights of the workers they represent.

It is nothing short of hypocrisy for a man entrusted as shepherd of the Maltese diocese to condemn injustice from the pulpit while ignoring it in practice. This posture stands in stark contrast to the Church’s own tradition of social teaching – rooted in the current pontiff’s namesake – Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891), which defended the dignity and rights of workers, including their right to freely associate within trade unions of their choice.

Archbishop Scicluna’s selective morality—preaching justice while turning his back on those suffering under his watch somewhat strips his words of credibility. Empty, sanctimonious rhetoric cannot mask the fact that his silence contributed to the erosion of educators’ dignity in local Church Schools. 

The UPE reminds Archbishop Scicluna of Martin Luther King’s memorable words on injustice: “A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”