Not that costume you don't...

La Stella philharmonic society of Gozo formally protested to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities yesterday over a grotesque mask showing the door of St George's Basilica of Victoria.

The mask was displayed during the official carnival celebrations in Victoria on Saturday.

George Cini, secretary of the society, said the protest was made because the mask could cause offence since the law specified that ecclesiastical matters could not feature in carnival. The mask included the words Porta Salutis, which linked it directly to the door of the basilica.

Mr Cini said that after police intervention, the participants offered to remove the words, but they were disqualified from the parade and did not participate yesterday.

Mr Cini pointed out that this protest was filed in terms of the law, and his society had not protested when somebody produced a grotesque mask showing a star (symbol of the society) in the mouth of a lion, the symbol of the rival band.

Common sense prevailed however and the star was removed before this grotesque mask was paraded in Victoria.