Free entry to St John's Co-Cathedral (2)

Now that tourism has become one of the main sources of revenue for the country, the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation felt that this was a golden opportunity to derive some income from the inflow of tourism.

No one can blame them. The only difficulty is that St John's Co-Cathedral is a church, a House of God, of prayer, and for some hours of the day has been turned into a sort of museum.

In answer to my original letter complaining about the fee to enter the Co-Cathedral, the president of the foundation wrote: "It is primarily, if not exclusively, the duty of all Maltese citizens to contribute towards the preservation of their cultural heritage.

However, foreign visitors are ready to pay a fee to tour St John's in order to appreciate its exceptional beauty." This looks like a jibe against those Maltese who do not agree with the compulsory fee, or am I being too suspicious?

I agree that we Maltese have a duty to contribute towards the preservation of our cultural heritage and in fact we do contribute. But did the president overlook what he wrote a couple of lines before: "The government does make a substantial (sic) financial contribution annually."

By "government" I understand Maltese taxpayers. Therefore we all contribute, according to our means, to the upkeep of St John's Co-Cathedral.

This perhaps strengthens rather than weakens my assumption that we Maltese ought not to be charged any compulsory fee to enter the church.