Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1431464
3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2021 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Church's role in Abbazia saga THE Archdiocese refers to the report 'Qala's anger at Scicluna, lawyers question lineage' and Saviour Balzan's column 'Bernard's fatal moment, Scicluna's transgression' which were critical of the Archbishop's decision in 2017 to settle a 30-year legal battle between the Archbishop's Curia and the heirs of the Abbazia San Anto- nio Delli Navarra Foundation, which administers certain plots of land in Gozo. Both MaltaToday's story, which stated that Mgr Scicluna "claims" he was not aware that the land would be used for development purposes, and Mr Balzan, who said "I do not believe the man (the archbishop)", sought to cast doubt on the Archbishop's integ- rity. While comment is free, facts are sacred. Neither article in MaltaToday made any attempt to inform readers that it was not until two years after the Archbishop reached a legal settlement with the heirs, that they registered these plots in the name of the Abbazia San Antonio Delli Navarra Founda- tion. This was done expeditiously through the publication of a legal notice in 2019 which extended com- pulsory registration areas to include selected parts of Gozo, such as the plots in question. This decision by the Land Registry was criticised even by the Gozo Min- ister during an adjournment in the House of Representatives in Novem- ber 2020. It is somewhat perplexing that read- ers were deprived of such an impor- tant detail, which is crucial to their understanding of the real reason be- hind residents' uncertainty over legal title to their homes. Publication of this salient fact would also have assisted readers to form a more objective opinion on the Church's decision to reach a legal settlement in 2017 after the matter had already been in court for almost 30 years. Though grateful for any attributes that have been granted to him, the Archbishop unhesitatingly defers to a higher authority when it comes to seeing the future. Catherine Sciberras Communications Officer Archdiocese of Malta Our tattooed police THE Home Affairs Minister is in favour of allowing police recruits who have tattoos to join the corps. There are sev- eral issues that may arise. How will the different generations of the community react? How will the different generations of officers working in the corps react? How will the corps deal with officers and tattoos through policy? How will the officers with tattoos react to policy restrictions? How are tattoos affecting recruitment of new officers? Younger generations do not care if officers have tattoos. To them an officer with tattoos shares a kinship with them, making the officer somewhat more de- sirable to deal with. Older generations, however, generally have a negative view of tattoos. Thugs, criminals, gangsters, the worst characters in society have tattoos. Officers are a microcosm of the society at large. Officers in the corps can range from 21 to 60 years and over. Each gen- eration of officers have the same types of views as those in the greater community. Up until a few years ago tattoos were not even an issue because the officers had a personal standard of not having tattoos in areas of their bodies where they could be seen in uniform. It was seen as disre- spectful to the uniform to do otherwise. I feel that the corps should not let an officer display any tattoo he/she wants. What if the officer wants to display a graphic depiction of a woman's vagina, or swastikas, or mutilated bodies, or racist symbols, or any other offensive imagery or writing? Which entity should become a tattoo censor? What is ac- ceptable to an officer may not be to the Commissioner. Any type of arbitrary decision making can be rife with litigation potential. The best way to avoid this problem is to craft a well thought-out policy preventing the officers from having any objectionable tattoos in areas of the body that cannot be covered by the uniform or a flesh coloured sleeve on the arm. The goal of our police corps should be to find officers that can be the least objectionable possible to be able to provide service to the widest range potential of the community. Our corps has struggled for decades to raise the professional standards of the officers. The lowering of standards to improve recruitment could easily end up taking it in the wrong direction. Dr Mark Said Msida