Daphne you said: “So fine, the children of two alcoholics or two heroin addicts are taken into care. But the children of a man who eats dirt and claims that he is attacked by devils and of a woman who insists that her plastic statue is a salt mine are considered to be perfectly safe”. I totally agree, however how are they different from the thousands of Maltese parents who believe in demonic possession, who pray to something they have never seen, that a person can rise from the dead, go to a spectacle every Sunday where they are told that they are eating the body of Christ … need I go on?

[Daphne – It’s the difference between the mainstream and the non-mainstream. People who believe in demonic possession and Catholic rite and ritual tend to be normal people who were brainwashed from birth. Had they encountered these things late in life, they would have been sceptical. But then there are obvious limits, and encountering late in life a man who claims to be spitting thorns and to have chats with his guardian angel, and believing him, indicates that this person is more than a touch unbalanced. I don’t think children should be exposed to parents who are so clearly cuckoo: your mother decorates a plastic statuette with salt and cooking oil; your father goes into labour in front of the television cameras….it’s not just embarrassing (and Mrs Caruana admitted on Xarabank that her children were being bullied and picked on), it is actually frightening for the children.]

Exactly. She can do what the hell she likes, but should certainly not parade as a saint. Ditto the people “b’xeba qrun u stejjer” that make it a point of acting holy when it suits them, “ghal ghajn in-nies”. As I always say, “Jekk veru temmen b’Alla, b’Alla ma’ tidhaqx.”

Oh come on John, don’t tell me you fell for this hogwash.

When claims relating to the supernatural are made, there should be a presumption that such claims are false. Only after many years of analysis, reflection and prayer should one even remotely consider that there may be some truth in the claims.

For Catholics, the Borg in-Nadur circus is an insult to our religion.

I was particularly saddened by the participation of two priests on the panel. Even if they did not declare themselves favourably on the alleged apparitions, their presence gave credibility. Stating that God can work in mysterious ways in a programme dealing solely with the claimed apparitions of Borg in-Nadur is easily misinterpreted that the alleged apparitions may well be true.

The participation of Marlene Pullicino confirmed what I have been suspecting all along – she is a person with a very, very low IQ.

There are known cases of people who have ended up with bruises etc. during sleep even if they did not scratch. There are very rare cases where the mind can produce such things. Nothing magical about it.

Regarding the tears he has when he “sees” the Madonna, all you have to do is keep your eyes open without any blinking for a few minutes. You’ll see the tears streaming down for yourself.

Someone told me that Angelik’s father was also some kind of visionary who used to say he saw the Madonna and such things. I guess it’s a hereditary condition. The guy needs help, and I’m not being sarcastic.

The missing element from the whole range of comments has to do with the inducement of mass hysteria. There are
people who are testifying to seeing thorns grow out of Angelik’s mouth and holy wafers appearing out of nowhere and landing on his palms. I think the country needs a team of specialised shrinks who deal with collective mental malfunctioning.

Mario

That’s a new one – A speech thereapist who speaks very inaudibly himself.