The Secret Lives Of Maltese Pagans

A Massey researcher studying modern day witches and pagans in the Mediterranean island republic of Malta says she has had to conceal the identities of those she interviewed to protect them.

Social anthropologist Dr Kathryn Rountree believes the people she interviewed for a book could risk losing their jobs if they became known as practicing pagans in the strongly Catholic country.

Dr Rountree, a senior lecturer in the School of Social and Cultural Studies in Auckland, says Catholic disapproval of alternative religions meant extreme caution and attention to ethical research practices were vital in her approach to interviewing pagans and witches, as well as Catholic priests, about the existence of paganism in Malta. Full Story

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