Allow me to express myself on behalf of thousands of so-called “bigots” who voted for the Baptism of Christ to appear with great pride on the face of the Maltese euro coins.

I voted for Mazzuoli’s Baptism of Christ and never ever thought that I was going to be classified a “bigot”, as Ms Caruana Galizia said (TMID 15 June), simply because I voted so!

I gave my vote to a priceless piece of art sculptured by Giuseppe Mazzuoli for St John’s Conventual church (now Co-Cathedral), following Melchiorre’s Gafa’s plans.

According to our formidable art critic Ms Caruana Galizia, I voted for something about which I did not have a clue. Thanks to Ms Caruana Galizia, I came to realise that I voted to have a First Holy Communion medallion instead of a euro coin.

I do not believe it was the NCEE’s intention to propose Mazzuoli’s Baptism of Christ as a religious option. The NCEE categorised the image as part of Malta’s “renaissance” heritage, together with Fort St Angelo and Valletta’s plan.

The NCEE could have put to the vote some other piece of art that Malta boasts to have as part of our cultural heritage. It could have been Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John or his St Jerome or else Gafa’s monumental St Paul in St Paul Shipwrecked Collegiate in Valletta or Our Lady of the Rosary sculptured by Gafa for the Rabat Dominican Church or Neptune’s statue at the Grandmaster’s palace in Valletta.

How could Ms Caruana Galizia pretend to be a credible opinion writer following such arrogance? It’s purely rude to call anyone a “bigot”! Is this the freedom of speech Ms Caruana Galizia pretends to have?

Now that Ms Caruana Galizia seems to be happy that the Baptism of Christ has been “cheesed off”, since she is “glad that another way has been found” to get rid of the said image, it’s time to analyse whether there was any pressure to get rid of it! It’s clear that certain journalists did their part to eliminate the Baptism’s chance of getting on the euro.

Meanwhile I am still wondering who the real bigot is!

Cleavon Vella

Tarxien