Moments with the Pope

These are some special moments with Pope Francis during his two-day visit among us. The first one is a personal favorite as it affected me personally. While visiting the migrants, their priest-friar, Fr Dionysius Mintoff presented the Pope with a gift from the migrants, but then he also offered him two copies of the newspaper ‘Leħen is-Sewwa’ (Voice of Truth) in which I’ve been writing for the past 36 years. Incidentally the copy that he offered him was a special issue about the Pope, in which I wrote a whole page of different stories and anecdotes about Pope Francis. You can see him in this treasured photo as he leafs through the paper, now in its 94th year of publication. He was actually given two copies, one which he signed and left at the Migrant Center, and the other one he took with him. I was so honored and touched by this gesture, as well as for the recognition that this paper deservedly received.

The other one happened a few minutes later when the Pope met one of the main organizers of this visit, Kevin Papagiorcopulo, who was with his wife. Apparently Kevin told the Pope that they were expecting another baby, and instantly the Pope blessed the unborn child and touched the tummy of Kevin’s wife, in a gesture that affirms life and giving a strong pro-life statement. 20 years ago, Kevin used to interview me every week from New York after the Twin Towers collapse on September 11, 2001.

And finally, while still on the plane returning to Rome, the Pope tweeted this message to the Maltese people. It can easily be read here if you simple enlarge it. Thank you Pope Francis.