On the occasion of the feast of St Publius, Patron Saint of Floriana (24 April), this is what Pope John Paul II said about his visit to Malta after he said mass on St Publius Square (Il-Fosos) in May 1990 in his first public audience in Rome after he returned from Malta, as published on the front page of the Osservatore Romano, “I have just returned form the Island of Malta which, despite its pluralistic history, assimilated the values of various civilisations and should continue in her natural mission of her precious vocation initiated by the great Apostle Paul when he was providentially shipwrecked in Malta, situated in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea”.

The Pope continued by stating that the Acts of the Apostles recount in great detail how Paul converted to Christianity the Maltese by various miracles among which the healing of the father of Publius who was qualified as the “first in the island” (Governor of Malta on behalf of the Roman Empire), who later became venerated as the First Bishop of the Maltese Church.

“In fact action was taken to evangelise the inhabitants whose fruits I could myself see and touch during my recent visit because through its Christian fundamentals Malta entered in the Acts of the Apostles by uniting its history with that of the Apostle Paul.

“My immediate contact with the Maltese population gave me the occasion to feel the religious nobility of this nation after recording the most significant moments of my recent Apostolic Voyage to the Island of St Paul.”

Reuben Bonello

FLORIANA