Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1519405
JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 APRIL 2024 NEWS EEKhEDEdK&>>&KZWZK:dWZKWK^>^hEZ ƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ^ŽĐŝĂů&ƵŶĚнϮϬϮϭͲϮϬϮϳ dŚĞDŝŶŝƐƚƌLJƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďůĞĨŽƌƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ&ƵŶĚƐǁŽƵůĚůŝŬĞƚŽĂŶŶŽƵŶĐĞƚŚĂƚŝƚŝƐůĂƵŶĐŚŝŶŐĂĐĂůůĨŽƌƉƌŽũĞĐƚƉƌŽƉŽƐĂůƐ ŝŶƚŚĞĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐĂƌĞĂ͗ WƌŝŽƌŝƚLJϯͲYƵĂůŝƚLJĂŶĚŝŶĐůƵƐŝǀĞĞĚƵĐĂƚŝŽŶĂŶĚĞŶŚĂŶĐĞĚůŝĨĞůŽŶŐůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐĨŽƌŐƌŽǁƚŚ͘ ^ƉĞĐŝĨŝĐKďũĞĐƚŝǀĞ͗ϰ͘ϳ–>ŝĨĞůŽŶŐůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐĂŶĚĐĂƌĞĞƌƚƌĂŶƐŝƚŝŽŶƐ dŚĞĐĂůůǁŝůůĐůŽƐĞŽŶϭϳ ƚŚ :ƵŶĞϮϬϮϰĂƚŶŽŽŶ͘ dŚĞŽŶůŝŶĞĂƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶĨŽƌŵĨŽƌƚŚĞƐƵďŵŝƐƐŝŽŶŽĨƉƌŽũĞĐƚƉƌŽƉŽƐĂůƐĂŶĚƐƵƉƉŽƌƚŝŶŐĚŽĐƵŵĞŶƚĂƚŝŽŶĂƌĞĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞŽŶ ŚƚƚƉƐ͗ͬͬĨŽŶĚŝ͘ĞƵͬǁŚĂƚͲĨƵŶĚŝŶŐͲŝƐͲĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞͬ͘ WƌŽƐƉĞĐƚŝǀĞƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚƐĂƌĞĞŶĐŽƵƌĂŐĞĚƚŽƌĞĨĞƌƚŽƚŚĞƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ^ŽĐŝĂů&ƵŶĚнWƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĞĂŶĚƚŚĞůŝŐŝďŝůŝƚLJ'ƵŝĚĂŶĐĞ EŽƚĞƐŝŶŽƌĚĞƌƚŽĐŚĞĐŬǁŚĞƚŚĞƌƚŚĞŝƌƉƌŽƉŽƐĂůƐĂƌĞĞůŝŐŝďůĞĨŽƌĨƵŶĚŝŶŐƚŚƌŽƵŐŚƚŚŝƐĐĂůůĨŽƌƉƌŽũĞĐƚƉƌŽƉŽƐĂůƐ͘ &ƵƌƚŚĞƌŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶŽŶƚŚŝƐĐĂůůĂŶĚŽŶƚŚĞƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ^ƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĂůĂŶĚ/ŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ&ƵŶĚƐŵĂLJďĞŽďƚĂŝŶĞĚĨƌŽŵ ŚƚƚƉƐ͗ͬͬĨŽŶĚŝ͘ĞƵͬ͘ŶLJƋƵĞƌLJƐŚŽƵůĚďĞƐĞŶƚďLJĞŵĂŝůŽŶĨŽŶĚŝ͘ĞƵΛŐŽǀ͘ŵƚ͘ ĚĞĚŝĐĂƚĞĚŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶƐĞƐƐŝŽŶŝƐďĞŝŶŐŽƌŐĂŶŝƐĞĚŽŶtĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ͕ϴ ƚŚ DĂLJ͕ϮϬϮϰĨƌŽŵϭϬ͗ϬϬƚŝůůϭϯ͗ϬϬĂƚƚŚĞŽĨĨŝĐĞƐ ŽĨ^ĞƌǀŝnjnjŝEwropej f'Malta –ϮϴϬ͕ZĞƉƵďůŝĐ^ƚƌĞĞƚ͕sĂůůĞƚƚĂ͘ZĞŐŝƐƚƌĂƚŝŽŶĨŽƌƚŚĞŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶƐĞƐƐŝŽŶĐĂŶďĞĚŽŶĞďLJ ƐĐĂŶŶŝŶŐƚŚĞďĞůŽǁYZĐŽĚĞ͘ Paola parish priest: 'At the end of the day we must pay the bills' "WHEN I receive an electricity bill or a bill from the painter, I must pay it with money… I cannot pay them back with a blessing." These is the earthly reaction of Fr Marc Andre Camilleri to accusations that a proposed cafeteria on the roof of his church will result in the com- mercialisation of sacred prop- erty. The parish priest of the Christ the King parish in Paola faced public uproar after MaltaTo- day revealed plans for a restau- rant and an outside seating and bar area on the roof between the two belfry towers. Subsequently, new plans identifying the establishment as a cafeteria not a restaurant were submitted. The new plans retain the outside tables but exclude any cooking on site. I meet Fr Camilleri on the par- vis, and he walks me through the church property where he intends creating a "vertical mu- seum" inside the belfry towers topped by a cafeteria. He confirms that the pro- posed cafeteria on the roof of the church will be run by a pri- vate operator but at this stage the aim of the planning appli- cation is to see what the au- thorities are willing to permit. Asked whether the church will be issuing a public call or whether it already has a busi- ness operator in mind, Camill- eri hints that it is still early for any commitment of this sort. "We have first to see what the authorities think of this project and any arrangements will follow from there… The museum itself will belong to the church… As regards the cafeteria there will be some- one responsible for it as this is not something we can do our- selves," he says. I ask him about the Prime Minister's criticism that the proposed catering establish- ment is 'a non-starter' but the parish priest curtly replies, "everyone has a right to an opinion". Camilleri insists the proposed chairs and tables will not have any negative aesthetic impact because they are not perma- nent structures and will not even be visible from street lev- el. However, the parish priest makes it clear that the whole aim of the application is to get a clear idea on what can be per- mitted or not on this site. "We will be abiding with what authorities like the Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage will tell us," he reassures pa- rishioners. Asked whether he anticipated the negative public reaction, Camilleri blames this on peo- ple "just reading the headlines" and adds that the plans are "much bigger than the cafete- ria which is just a small part of the project." Indeed, the plans are intend- ed to make full use of six rooms atop each other in each belfry. "What we are proposing is a museum and an interpretation centre… The cafeteria will take up one room of 12 existing ones… Our priority is to make full use of this enormous and abandoned space," he tells me as we make our way up the bel- fry. He also makes it clear that any revenue will go to cover the maintenance and restora- tion costs of the church and the employment of staff required to keep the church open for longer hours. "Surely this will not be enough to cover the enormous expenses involved [in running a church] but it will help," he says as he points to the costs attached to the restoration of the church's dome. Scaffolding costs alone cost over €100,000, while water proofing will cost €153,000, Camilleri notes. "The cafeteria is the least im- portant aspect of this project," he reiterates but it will help to recoup some of the costs to maintain the church property. Paola parish priest confirms private operator will be responsible for cafeteria but insists before any arrangements are made the church needs to know what the authorities are willing to permit or not Fr Marc Andre Camilleri