I would like to voice my disappointment for not having been allowed to join the congregation at St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta for the funeral Mass of the late Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca.

I arrived in Valletta at 3.45pm and was politely told by one of the policemen that the public was not allowed to enter since the Church was “full-up”.

This was really something unheard of. Since when are we to book beforehand to attend Mass? Are we going to start discriminating between the ‘high-ranked’ and the ‘common people’?

I would like to know who had issued this directive, whether it came from the Chapter or the administration of the co-cathedral.

All this sounds so ironic, especially when one hears the Archbishop say that everybody is welcome to the ‘House of our Lord’. I would really appreciate an explanation.

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