St Publius and a truth seeker

I do not know what makes Henry S. Pace tick (The Concern With Publius, February 4). I am not a fanatic. I just want to know the full truth about the historical event that occurred in the year 60AD. If the Maltese Curia, under the supervision of the Apostolic Nuncio is genuinely following the Gospel of Jesus Christ it should seek the truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth.

I do not want to believe in a lie but neither do I want that the lies is imposed on me...- Frans H. Said, St Paul’s Bay

The whole debacle started in 1844 when Floriana was made an independent parish. Certain members of the clergy (and only a few of them) resented losing their income. The resentment kept on simmering until the real reason was lost in oblivion. Then, a few decades ago a Conventual Franciscan monk, in connivance with a Capuchin monk set all out to discredit what is clearly written in the Acts of the Apostles and what was written by a saint and a doctor of the Church, namely The Venerable Bede who among other attributes was a great scholar of classical Greek and of the early history of the Church. I want to highlight the fact that St Bede is respected and venerated by major Christian religions.

It is unbelievable that centuries’ old traditions and teachings are ignored in an apparent way to satisfy the bigoted and spiteful who surely are not the true followers of Christ as per the Gospels. On the same basis as the traffic wardens who hide behind a corner, the Maltese Curia has downgraded St Publius to second or even third division. These actions include the curtailment from the readings of the Acts of the Apostles; ignoring the one and only official commemorative date of St Publius of Malta and Athens; changing the colour of vestments from red to white; that St Publius is hardly ever mentioned in the Eucharistic prayer; that his official feast, as listed in the Roman and Greek calendars of saints has been side tracked and in Malta is not even considered to be an obligatory feast let alone a solemnity; and the details of the place and date of the shipwreck of St Paul.

I do not want to believe in a lie but neither do I want that the lie is imposed on me and on the Curia oligarchy. What is the truth? This can only be ascertained by genuine, independent and unprejudiced non-Maltese scholars, versed in classical Greek and after having been through all the details as expounded by the Venerable Bede. What is wrong in my requests?

I feel we are treading on very dangerous ground. Once we start to question the writings of a doctor of the Church where shall we stop, what shall we believe? If we are not careful to study all the implications, then surely we could be dealing with a house of cards – when one removes one card all the others will collapse.

Can the local Curia and the Vatican declare if St Bede is to be believed and if not, give tangible and proper explanations?