Around 1541, the Reformer John Calvin, based in Geneva, advocated a Protestant church subservient to the city government. In Jewish, Islamic and supposedly Moses' First Commandment fashion he advocated the removal of sacred images from churches: no Crucifixes, no statues, etc in iconoclastic style. This injunction was followed in Geneva and in many Protestant churches, where one only finds a bare wooden cross, bearing no image of the crucified Christ.

Now in Finland and other Scandinavian countries, and in Spain, we find secular societies where Catholic practice is only reluctantly tolerated, while abortion is allowed. Under the influence of the wide influx of millions of Muslim and Buddhist economic and political refugees, is Europe turning agnostic, anti-Christian and even anti-Catholic?

In Malta, the Crucifix is part and parcel of our history, culture and faith, not only in churches, but also in classrooms and in hospitals. May one say that this issue is non-negotiable?