I wish to convey my gratitude for the annual initiative of the Foreign Ministry in giving Overseas Development Aid to help projects and give poor people new opportunities. The ministry knows that the Maltese missionaries work hard with the poor without any personal interest involved. They give their lives where they are needed the most. The missionaries know that the ministry can add something more to the many projects they tackle every single day.

For example, Fr Gerard Bonello, after his years in Malta working hard to promote and develop the St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat, has gone to Pakistan and is working hard there to develop a school for the very poor children in a remote area of Lahore. I know the place and I know how dedicated the person is and who he is accountable to.

Gratitude flows for the support received for projects from the Foreign Ministry’s Overseas Development Aid initiative

The Foreign Ministry, through ODA, funded part of this project and full transparency and accountability are expected for every single cent spent. He must be also accountable to the Church in Pakistan and to the Missionary Society of St Paul.

In Peru, all the activities of the Missionary Society of St Paul are registered under the Associacion Missionera di San Pablo – equivalent to an NGO in Europe. This status has come about because, as missionaries from Malta for the last 45 years, we have worked hard with the poorest of the poor in Lima, Arequipa and Camana.

We built schools, ran day care centres, organised kitchens and clinics, and all this is done generously and with no self-interest. I know, I have been there several times and I saw missionaries young and old working round the clock just because they love the people and want to bring about some change in a Christian way.

There too, they are accountable to the government since they are an association, and according to Canon Law they are also accountable to the Church of Peru and as well to the Congregation – the Missionary Society of St Paul. And obviously to the donors for the money or objects they receive to realise so many charitable projects.

They are giving their full life to help the poor – this is what we learned to do out of the Gospel. Loving each other is our mission and we try to do it as best we can.

I wish, again, to express thanks to Minister Tonio Borg and the Foreign Ministry for the good work they are doing through ODA. I appreciate the demands that have to be made to account for every single cent spent.

And I back the minister when he says that our missionaries are like ambassadors of Malta who are giving not just a good name to our little island but are dedicating their lives to helping change our poor world into a better one and promoting our Maltese culture, which is rich in values. We know how hard the Maltese missionaries work and are proud of them, and to help them in their task makes us proud as well.