I read with interest Stephen Camilleri's contribution St Publius' Presence In Valletta (July 1) and dare say he is perfectly correct.

For personal reasons, I couldn't be physically present for the official ceremony held on June 29 to mark the closure of the Pauline Year; however I watched it all on TVM.

I can honestly say the transmission went remarkably well and the commentator Mario Micallef did a good job. For it to be more balanced, one would have wished that instead of narrating the whole hymn of St Paul some stanzas from that of St Publius would have been included too. This would have gone well too.

But commenting on the event as a whole, the only conclusion that one rightfully draws is that St Publius' presence in St John's Square was only a passive one. If my memory does not fail me, the only time St Publius was mentioned during the whole evening was in the Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. St Publius was also left out of the homily delivered by His Eminence Cardinal Ennio Antonelli.

I wouldn't expect the eminent gentleman to know the details of the history of Malta with its Christian tradition. He would only be al corrente of what the Acts of the Apostles say about St Paul's shipwreck on Malta and the way he was welcomed by our then First Citizen.

Hence our Christian faith. It is evident that Cardinal Antonelli was not duly briefed about St Publius, another Patron Saint of Malta.

Since I was not present at St John's Square on the day, I do not have a copy of the booklet which was distributed; but if what Mr Camilleri says is correct, that is that there is no mention of St Publius in it, one wonders why the organisers (I presume), in the first place came out with the idea of having the statue of St Publius in Valletta? I compare this with someone being invited to someone else's house and then ignored.

Another thing which struck me was the way that concelebrating priests, most of them of old age, were left to stand for the whole ceremony.

The reason behind this might be the restricted space in St John's Square. The organisers could have been spared this embarrassment and inconvenience, had the function took place in Floriana where it was more fitting.

It's a pity that the Fosos (as they are popularly known) have become the prerogative of the political parties only!

The last thing I would like to mention is the damask drop which was hung to the balcony of St John's Co Cathedral.

I think it needs to be changed as from what could be seen on TV, its colour is past its glory.

Otherwise, let's hope and pray that some good came out of the whole event.