The announcement made by the Curia about Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Malta next year filled me with great joy and hope. It vividly brought to my heart and mind the faith-inspiring words of the late Pope John Paul II, spoken from his burning heart for the Lord to the enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Floriana Granaries during Mass on the occasion of the beatification of Dun Ġorġ Preca, Nazju Falzon and Adeodata Pisani, on May 9, 2001.
This is what he said: "Malta, Malta! You have received so much through the ministry of St Paul and the witness of Blessed Dun Ġorġ, Blessed Nazju Falzon and Blessed Adeodata Pisani. As you move into the future, be faithful to the legacy they have left! Follow Christ with undivided heart and never be afraid to speak up for the truth that saves and the values that lead to life!"
I surmise that the bottom line of Pope Benedict XVI's speeches in Malta would be revolving on the above bold affirmation made by Pope John Paul II: "Follow Christ with undivided heart". Put crudely, I imagine Pope Benedict would say to us Maltese: "Malta, Malta, never compromise the life saving message of Christ's gospel!" The Papal visit, which will be commemorating the 1,950th anniversary of St Paul's shipwreck on these islands in 60 AD, is prophetic in itself.
As the Apostle Paul's arrival in Malta was dramatic in many respects, so the arrival of many illegal immigrants to the island of St Paul in our times is no less dramatic, if not tragic. From the dawn of Mediterranean civilisation, which was later confirmed by the biblical account of St Paul's arrival, Malta has always lived up to its natural inherent vocation of being a hospitable country, particularly to those seeking a land offering them a secure future.
Being a Christian country, Malta cannot ignore its biblical commitment to "show hospitality to strangers" (Heb 13, 2). While the Holy Scriptures affirm twice "to practise hospitality" (Rom 12, 13; 1 Pet 4, 9), in the first letter of St Peter, the Word of God urges us Maltese "to practise hospitality ungrudgingly" (1 Pet 4, 9). If the Bible says that hospitality to strangers is to be shown because "some have entertained angels unawares" (Heb 13, 2), why do certain quarters of the Maltese society negate the human dignity (let alone the angelic status portrayed by God's Word) to the illegal immigrants?
Commenting on the prevalent scourge of illegal immigration after the Angelus prayer of Sunday, August 31, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said: "Migration is a phenomenon that has existed since the dawn of human history and has, therefore, always characterised relations between peoples and nations. The emergency it has become in our day, however, challenges us and, while it calls for our solidarity, at the same time demands effective political responses. ...As a Father, I feel a profound duty to call everyone's attention to the problem and to ask for the generous collaboration of individuals and institutions in order to face it and find ways to solve it. May the Lord accompany us and make our efforts fruitful".
May Pope Benedict XVI's historic visit to our hospitable country serve as a catalyst in practising with generosity and discernment hospitality to illegal immigrants on a national dimension, and, on an international dimension, it helps find more humanitarian and just solutions to address this global tragic human problem.