It is indeed a very sad moment in time that Pope Benedict XVI will not be visiting St Paul’s Islands and the internationally acclaimed Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieha. It is like inviting the Grand Master of the Order of St John and then not letting him pay at least a short visit to his ancestors’ city of Valletta. Likewise, surely a Pope’s visit to Portugal would not make any sense if he were not to visit Our Lady of Fatima.

I sincerely hope that the organising committee and the Civil and Ecclesiastical Authorities know that the sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieha forms an integral part of the European Marian Network based at Lourdes. It stands on an equal footing with 20 other International European Sanctuaries, among them Lourdes itself, Fatima, Cszestochowa and Mariazell and is surely the most ancient of them all.

I am convinced that a well-organised quick drive would have covered many of the salient areas in Malta and Gozo and surely that hurried glimpse of Pope Benedict, or that short hand greeting would have been enough for many Maltese. Many are those who are not comfortable or able enough to go to Valletta or Kalkara, and reaching out to the common people would have gone a long way to make many people happy.

Jimmy Muscat

MELLIEHA