Shame the Pope’s words are not given more prominence in Malta
And ironic, too (but entirely in keeping with the Far Right mentality to which celebrations of nationhood and ethnic pride so appeal) that among those celebrating most ardently the 450th anniversary of the “victory of Maltese over the Turks” this year – ridiculous, but let’s not go there – will be those who most disagree with Pope Francis on this matter.
As long as our authorities – in education, government and elsewhere – continue feeding the frenzy of Christians versus Muslims and Maltin konta t-Torok, as though the past in this respect is in any way relevant to the present except to cause more harm, the mentality of Maltese people will not evolve.
The nation has been built. We are in the 21st century. We are a European Union member state caught between two continents and a massive migration shift from one to the other. People are dying in their thousands. And here we still are, talking about Turks, Muslims, Christians and Knights.
Grow up. Enter the present. When Europe marks the anniversary of the end of World War II, or Victory in Europe Day, it does so side by side with Italy and Germany. he rest of Europe does not celebrate ‘victory over the Italians and Germans’. It’s not a celebration of victory, but a commemoration of a global catastrophe
I quote from the news after the latest tragedy at sea, in which around 600 people trying to reach Europe from Africa are feared to have been drowned together when their overcrowded vessel capsized yesterday.
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Pope Francis appealed to the international community to take swift and decisive action to avoid more tragedies.
“They are men and women like us, our brothers seeking a better life, starving, persecuted, wounded, exploited, victims of war. They were looking for a better life,” he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday noon address.
“Faced with such a tragedy, I express my most heartfelt pain and promise to remember the victims and their families in prayer,” he said, departing from his prepared text.
“I make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to react decisively and quickly to see to it that such tragedies are not repeated,” he said, before asking the crowd to pray “for these brothers and sisters”.