It’s probably not the right time for the Pope to visit Malta.

The country is still abuzz with the election that was held last week. Its ramifications are still very much on people’s minds. What people are talking about is politics, and with the electoral process still to be concluded with the casual elections and gender-corrective mechanism, the 26 March vote is still the main subject of discussion.

When it was announced that the election was to be held just a week before Pope Francis sets foot on the island, the first thoughts that came to mind were that his short stay would be overshadowed by the vote.

It is the fourth time that the Pope will be visiting Malta. John Paul II came over twice, and Pope Benedict XVI also spent a couple of days here. In all those three occasions, the build-up for the papal visit took over all that was happening at the time in Malta.

It is not the same on this occasion. Except for a few billboards with the pope’s face and roundabouts with Maltese and Vatican flags, there is little preparation, and there was little time too. It’s as if the Pope’s visit is just an afterthought.

That the number of Covid cases is again on the rise – and this time we have the Health Minister also in quarantine – does not help. We know that 12,000 people will be attending the Pope’s Mass on Sunday. That’s probably more than the number of people who attended single activities held by the political parties in the election campaign, and it is clear that such events aided the virus to spread with a vengeance again.

Having said this, the Pope’s visit could not be postponed any longer. He was due to come two years ago, but the visit had to be postponed because of the virus pandemic. It was then being said that the Pope would have visited Malta last December, as part of a trip that also took him to Greece and Cyprus, but that did not materialise either.

The Vatican has its own plans and programmes and it is possible that the 2-3 April weekend was proposed as a take-it-or-leave-it idea, and the government and Church authorities in Malta had no other option but to accept.

It will be a short, 32-hour visit the highlight of which is the Mass on Sunday. It is to be expected that, with the eyes of the international media on him, the Pope will use the occasion to once again deplore the war in Ukraine. His meeting with immigrants at Hal Far will also be a highlight of his stay in Malta.

The papal visit is also being seen as one of the last official events for Archbishop Charles Scicluna as head of the church in Malta. Media which covers Vatican affairs are indicating that he could be given a top post in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which could in turn lead to changes at the Maltese Curia.

But, until that happens, Malta today is set to give a warm welcome to Pope Francis. Let us hope that his visit will rekindle sentiments of unity, hope and serenity.