Ever since Pope Benedict XVI's Pastoral/State visit to Malta was officially confirmed for April 17 and 18, 2010, the organising committee which embraced the archdiocese, government, police, armed forces and others, all worked hard together and left no stone unturned to make the event a success.

The media had its share; good and bad, went far and beyond, but in the end common sense prevailed and the Maltese turned out in their thousands, even in the town and village streets to welcome His Holiness. Generally speaking, all organised activities were an outright success - the colourful and noisy children's welcome at the Palace Square, his visit to St Paul's Grotto in Rabat, the meeting with the youths at the Valletta Waterfront. The Pontiff himself was impressed by the welcome given to him as head of the Catholic Church by all sections of the Maltese, young and old. We have welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with the same love and affection, which the Maltese of 1950 years ago, then led by Prince Publius who was later to be anointed first Bishop of Malta, welcomed St Paul who was shipwrecked in Malta.

Through his speeches, the Pope encouraged the Maltese to keep on being hospitable, to nourish their faith, to be an example of Christian living, to safeguard human life and to hold marriage and the integrity of the family with high esteem.

Now that the Pope has come and gone and the Maltese are back to normal life, besides counting our blessings that the Pope accepted the Church's and the State's invitation to visit Malta, a thorough look at what could be done better in any future similar eventuality should be taken note of.

I will dwell only on the Solemn High Mass celebrated on the Granaries on April 18.

It was a good idea to have big screens but they were not high enough for the crowds who were standing in the Mall area. To make things worse, the large banners fixed to the scaffolding of transmission stations and tied to trees near the Mall should have either been fixed much higher up or not at all. They blocked the view completely for those who, through lack of space, were not lucky enough to find a place on the Granaries. I happened to be in the vicinity of the Mall myself and could see nothing of what was going on.

But what irritated me most was that, just before the ceremony got under way, we asked a group of about six, presumably ushers or members of some movement, who happened to be passing our way, all six wearing a blue scarf around their neck, if it was possible that a big poster tied within reach to a couple of trees be removed, to enable the people to get a glimpse of what was going on. While one of them was listening to what we had to say and promising to see what could be done, a man, probably a part of the group, without even letting her finish the sentence, jumped in and, in a very arrogant manner, ordered the group to move on. I was so stunned by his rude behaviour that I failed to read his name on the identification tag he carried.

With all due respect for the liturgy, I also humbly suggest that never-ending readings, although meaningful and narrative, are not practical on certain occasions, considering that the majority of the audience was or had been on its feet for hours on end. Lack of vision and certain inconveniences are good ingredients for distraction. A clear example - adults and children helping themselves to pastizzi and burgers where vision of the celebration was inexistent.

However, I realise, understand and appreciate the great effort behind the organisation and, once again, sincere congratulations to all involved. Let us hope and pray that the Pope's message of hospitality and of loving one another through our faith in God's teachings remains with us all along our path on earth.