The world is rightly mourning the death of Pope John Paul II and many countries have proclaimed one or more days of mourning as a sign of respect for this great man.

Malta has joined in this sadness. Our country felt close to the Pontiff, particularly since his first visit in 1990 and the more recent one at the turn of the century.

The government has done well to declare three days of mourning for the Pope, last Sunday and Monday as well as the day of his funeral, Friday.

Yet, was it really necessary to stop the workings of Parliament for a whole week?

Last Monday, Parliament met briefly, with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition Leader Alfred Sant paying homage to the late Pope.

The House then adjourned and will be meeting again on Monday.

While it is understandable that, on Monday, the parliamentary sitting was devoted to brief statements by the two political leaders and was then adjourned as a sign of respect on a day of national mourning, it did not really make sense to put off yesterday’s and today’s sittings as well.

Parliamentarians should lead by example and should not take every opportunity to take days off from their duties. This was the common feeling among workers yesterday.

Their argument is that this year workers have lost four days of vacation leave because of amendments to the Public Holidays Act.

The Malta Independent endorsed this government’s decision since the move could help the country’s competitiveness.

But then, on the other hand, workers are justified to think that it was rather exaggerated to have parliamentary sittings cancelled for a whole week following the Pope’s death.

Again, there is no doubt that the Pope’s death should be a time of reflection and mourning but an entire week without parliamentary sittings is too much. One day – Monday – should have been enough.

As it happened, the two sides of the House of Representatives gave themselves a week off from their normal duties – and this following two weeks of Easter recess – while the rest of the working population continued with their normal lives.

If the government and opposition thought it fit to adjourn Parliament for a whole week, then why not upgrade the day of national mourning on Friday – the day of the Pope’s funeral – to a public holiday? This is what many workers commented yesterday when they learnt of the decision taken on Monday.

The Pope’s death has also brought with it other issues, among them the controversy over whether sport activities should have been cancelled on Sunday as a sign of respect.

In Italy, for example, the Italian Olympic Committee cancelled all activities this past weekend and on Friday. In Catholic Malta, no such decision was taken – it was left up to the individual associations to decide whether to continue with their schedule or not.

It is believed that the Malta Olympic Committee should have instructed its members to refrain from holding their events.

What happened was that some associations, including the Malta Racing Club and the Malta Basketball Association, cancelled their weekend activities, which was the right thing to do in the circumstances.

But football went ahead as scheduled except for a some matches which were postponed because of the rain.

What is even more shameful is the fact that a supporter at the Ta’ Qali national stadium had a banner criticising the Malta Football Association for its decision to hold FA Trophy matches taken away from him.

Is it possible that in a democratic country one cannot express disagreement with the MFA?