The importance of retaining faith, given to the Maltese by St Paul when he visited the island 2,000 years ago, was this morning stressed by Fr Martin Mamo.

Addressing a packed congregation at St Paul's Church which gathered to celebrate the feast of the shipwreck of St Paul, which saw the saint landing in Malta on his way to Rome, Fr Mamo said that the Catholic faith had to be strengthened and updated to remain relevant.

"We must admit that amongst us there is.... faith haemorrhage... and religious apathy," he said.

Addressing the Prime Minister, President and Opposition leader he pointed out that when it came to faith there was no political colour.

"We all form part of the same red and white flag," he said, "Today we celebrate Malta's baptism."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.