That illegal immigration is a problem in this country is a fact that nobody can deny.

What perhaps many of us do not realise, and here I am referring especially to those Maltese who profess themselves Christians, is that there is not much choice to be had in our attitude towards them.

In his speech about the last judgement in Matthew 25, Christ clearly indicated some of the requisites necessary to be accepted in his kingdom. “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.”

It is illusory to believe that one can be a Christian and at the same time refuse to see in the desperate people that arrive on our shores the suffering face of the Lord.

This in no way means that the authorities concerned should not try to find some sort of solution to this problem and to call on other larger countries to help us mitigate the difficulties we are currently facing. However, if Christians are consistent in the faith they profess, they cannot and should not harbour any hostile and angry feelings towards these unfortunate people, ‘made in the image of God’, who, unlike us, have had the misfortune to come from countries plagued by wars, famine and economic deprivation, and try to help them as best as we can.

Jacqueline Calleja

BALZAN