The lost sheep

The TV programme Xarabank acts as a forum for people to make their voice heard. With the EU referendum drawing near, temperatures are rising.

The anti-EU lobby has been particularly vociferous and often not coherent in its arguments. Of the lot, the Federation of Hunters and Trappers has been particularly offensive. In Xarabank of January 10, the abrasive intervention of their spokesman, Lino Farrugia, drew a strong reaction from the Jesuit, Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat.

In his forceful intervention, Fr Grech Marguerat said these types of argument were a threat to the Maltese people as they blackmailed and threatened all the country. He added that the attitude of such people was a clear example of how a small group, or minority, in seeking to further its own narrow interests, held a country to ransom and did not take into account the common good.

Two weeks later (January 24), the hunters were back with a vengeance as Xarabank devoted the whole programme to their hobby. What ensued must have had a very negative impact on many of us. It is unbelievable that there are people who allow the addiction to their hobby to disrupt any dispassionate analysis on the EU.

The subservience of our politicians does not help. One hopes that the rowdy and uncivil elements present are not representative of all the hunters and trappers in Malta.

Mr Farrugia was present and had the gall to attack Fr Grech Marguerat again. He stressed again his intention to pursue the hunters' and trappers' interests regardless of other considerations. For good measure, he scolded the Jesuit for not seeking out the "lost sheep".

This pathetic scenario underscores the sad reality that over the years the Church in Malta has apparently failed to instil in its flock the Gospel of Creation in all its majesty. Unfortunately, for many of us, Christian morality is often restricted to sexual matters, and other sins, especially those against the environment, are very often left unmentioned and unnoticed.

Yet, the Church teaches us about the common good, which includes reverence for the integrity of the environment and the sacredness of life. Even animal life deserves to be treated with awe and wonder - and even respect. One of the positive aspects of the EU is that, thanks to the powerful Green lobby, it has an acute awareness of the fragility of the environment and the need to safeguard it for us and for future generations.

Unfortunately, the crass disregard of a certain section of our people for the environment and God's creatures is shocking. There are so many of us who will not hesitate to mistreat animals, to throw any sort of rubbish outside, to foul the environment and to expropriate public land for our own advantage with no concern at all for others and public hygiene.

It would be very educational for our political and religious leaders to take a stroll in what is left of our diminishing countryside and see the callous manner in which it is treated.

Junk is dumped everywhere, "shanty towns" are allowed to desecrate areas of scenic beauty, and hideously built and shabbily furnished hunters'and trappers' hideouts proliferate like mushrooms. Concrete is even poured on the garrigue so that these "sportsmen" can drive up to their "hunting grounds" and thus not exert themselves unduly.

To add insult to injury, large swathes of land have already been taken over by these people to the detriment of the rest of us who are thus deprived of the freedom to enjoy bird life and walk at will in what is left of Malta's "wilderness". Yet our "sportsmen" expect to be free of any rules whatsoever and reject any form of regulation.

It is most disconcerting that our political parties appear unable or unwilling to unite in standing up to special interest groups that openly defy rules and regulations that safeguard the common good.

It is long overdue that Fr Grech Marguerat will not remain a lone voice and that the full authority of the Jesuit Community and the Church will support his just concerns, call a spade a spade and, above all, inform our "lost sheep" how far astray they have gone.