These are just a few important remarks Pope Francis gave the people of Malta to ponder over before he left Malta on Sunday. They should be the salient points to meditate on, over the next few months and years:
He stressed the importance of working together, of
preferring cohesion to division, and of strengthening the shared roots and
values that have forged Maltese society in its uniqueness.
He called for more concrete action, warning that the
Mediterranean Sea should
not become the biggest cemetery of Europe. Unfortunately, the east – the land of sunrise – is now
threatened by the dark shadows of war.
The Pope’s strongest words
were directed towards “some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims
of nationalist interests” who is “provoking and fomenting conflicts” (a clear reference to Putin.) He also mentioned the humanitarian tragedies
that seem to have been forgotten, such as Yemen and Syria.
Public debates tend to be uninspiring and insular. For example, discussions on the war in
Ukraine are scant, except when this concerns rising prices. Migration is only spoken of in terms of
a burden.
He emphasised values such as
honesty, justice, duty and transparency – essential pillars of a mature civil
society.
He spoke about defending life and not discarding
the rightful dignity of workers, the elderly and the sick.
He challenged us to ensure that religious
practices do not get reduced to relics from the past but become an expression
of a living, open faith that spreads the joy of the Gospel.
His parting
words: Let
us not be tricked by those who say ‘nothing can be done, ‘such problems are too
big for us’, ‘I care for myself, and the others care for themselves’… let us
answer the challenges concerned with all of humanity.
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