Archbishop's car may park outside St John's

The driver of the Archbishop's official car is after all authorised to park the car opposite St John's Co-Cathedral while the head of the Maltese Church is on official duty at the Co-Cathedral, it was learnt yesterday.

A Valletta warden on Friday morning issued a contravention ticket on the Archbishop's official car which was parked in the 'tow zone' outside St John's while Mgr Mercieca was saying Mass at about 10 a.m.

The car carried the official registration plate of the archbishop, who according to protocol is the third highest-ranking VIP on the island.

The car was again parked in the same spot yesterday as Archbishop Mercieca was saying Mass at St John's. Close by two policemen stood on duty. There were other cars parked in the area. No warden was in sight.

Enquiries with sources close to the Cathedral Chapter revealed that the Archbishop's official car is authorised by the police to park in front of St John's.

In fact, the sources added, each time Mgr Mercieca has to go to St John's to conduct religious functions, a representative of the Cathedral Chapter contacts the Valletta police to send a policeman to attend to the Archbishop and to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

The sources said that it happened that on Friday morning Valletta police resources were exhausted in view of a bomb scare at the law courts and no policeman was available to go to St John's.