Malta
celebrates its
patron saint
A pontifical mass celebrating the
feast of St Paul in Valletta was
held on Thursday 10 February.
During his homily, Archbishop
Charles Scicluna dwelt on the im-
portance of love and noted that
Malta had a right to ask for EU
solidarity in dealing with migra-
tion but it should do so while also
showing love towards people in
distress at sea by saving them.
At the end of the mass, the Vat-
ican's representative in Malta,
Nuncio Appostolico Alessandro
d'Errico, read out a message of-
ficially announcing the visit of
Pope Francis to Malta on 2 and 3
April.
The Pope will visit Valletta, Floria-
na, Rabat, Gozo and Hal Far.
Francis was due to come to Mal-
ta two years ago but the visit had
to be postponed because of the
pandemic.
The mass was attended by the
country's highest authorities, in-
cluding President George Vella,
Prime Minister Robert Abela and
Opposition leader Bernard Grech.
European Parliament President
Roberta Metsola, on her first visit
to Malta since taking on the role,
also attended.
PHOTO BY CARL FARRUGIA
14
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 FEBRUARY 2022
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