Today, the faithful who attend Mass at Balzan parish church have been asked to express their opinion in writing about the date of the titular feast of the Annunciation for the year 2014. In that year, the Balzan titular feast, which has been celebrated on the second Sunday of July since 1974, will again coincide with the World Cup finals.

Only those parishioners who are naive or who observe Balzan parish life from a distance would take this exercise in consultation seriously. Those who are more familiar with the dynamics of parish life will not be duped so easily. Many parishioners believe that this otherwise commendable initiative of consulting residents would have made more sense and would have been more credible had it not been a one-off.

It is worth reminding readers that when a few years ago the same parish priest was asked to hire out the roof of the parish church for the installation of mobile telephony antennae, he gave his permission straight away without even bothering to consult the parish council, let alone the parishioners who treasure their parish church.

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