Return to stability

Apropos the letter written by Dominic Chircop titled Don Camillo's Maltese Parellels (March 3), I think that this contributor has not yet realised that the current Maltese political scenario is completely different from that of the 1960s, thank God.

Thus, this makes me conclude that his assertion that the books of Don Camillo "give a deep insight into modern-day Malta and its current political scene" is wrong. In fact, I don't think that the majority of Maltese citizens are right now really interested in the 1960s events, but somehow they seem to be more interested on what our political parties are proposing for the next legislature.

Apart from this I think that when writing about the 1960s, Mr Chircop should try to take a more balanced approach and remember that history teaches us that while on one hand it takes two to tango, on the other hand, in medio stat virtus.

In fact, I believe that although certain reactions on part of the Museum and the Church were unfathomably unbalanced, I firmly believe that it would be reasonable to admit that the troublesome Labour Prime Minister of the time, Dom Mintoff, played quite a leading role in the politico-religious troubles, for he was all the time picking up fights with the Church on the pettiest of excuses. No wonder that this eventually led to mayhem. For example, I think that today everyone agrees that it was stupid on the part of Mintoff to enrol himself in the AAPSO, a communist front. On the other hand, I think that all contemporary Church authorities agree that the famous interdett of Archbishop Michael Gonzi might have been canonically licit, but it surely resulted in a pastoral disaster.

In this regard, I think that much praise should be given to Alfred Sant who was a catalyst in bringing about the change in his party, which was so much needed for Labour to continue being relevant. Dr Sant, with his classy style and managerial skills, managed to weed out the violent elements in the Labour party and also succeeded in giving it a new identity, free of violence.

Praise should also be attributed to the emeritus Archbishop of Malta, Mgr Joseph Mercieca, who through his erudite and witty nature, and the good will of both political parties, especially the current President of Malta Edward Fenech Adami, succeeded in bringing back stability in the Church and the country.