A group of Jesuit priests have taken a stand against spring hunting, declaring they will vote against a pastime they deem unsustainable.
In a poster circulating on social media, the 15 priests list the reasons of why they will be voting No on Saturday: no for the destruction of creatures, the taking over of whatever is left of the countryside and an unsustainable pastime.
A No for spring hunting also ensured spaces where children, youths and families could “breathe without fear”, they say. The priests are Fr Jimmy Bartolo, Fr Josef Briffa, Fr Edgar Busuttil, Fr George Camilleri, Fr Joseph Cassar, Fr David Cefai, Fr Michael Debono, Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat, Fr Vincent Magri, Fr Patrick Magro, Fr Alfred Micallef, Fr Paul Pace, Fr John Scicluna, Fr Karl Vella and Fr Alfred Xuereb.
When contacted, Fr Cassar said the Jesuit priests had spoken out because the referendum was about an issue of national importance and they were interested in defending God’s creation and also in ensuring that present and future generations would be able to enjoy the countryside.
The stand by the Jesuit priests mirrors one brought up several times by the No campaigners that hunting scared people who wanted to enjoy the countryside in spring. Speaking at a Natura 2000 site on the Pembroke coastline, limits of the White Rocks area, Shout spokesman Mark Sultana said people did not feel comfortable walking there during the hunting season.
“This area will be occupied by hunters in a week’s time unless the No vote passes. Like hundreds of other sites, this area can today be enjoyed by walkers and joggers and it is also a safe place for exhausted migrating birds,” he said.
It was unfair that public land was taken over by hunters’ hides, Mr Sultana added. Urging eligible voters to pick up their voting documents by Thursday, Mr Sultana said the turnout of early voters last Saturday was encouraging.
There were still 26,248 uncollected voting documents for the spring hunting referendum yesterday morning. In comparison, four years ago, 20,775 voting documents had remained uncollected for the divorce referendum.
Voting documents can be collected from the Naxxar counting hall between 8am and 2pm and 3pm to 9pm today and tomorrow and until midnight on Thursday.
Meanwhile, as the campaign intensifies, the Yes camp yesterday headed to Gozo where they insisted that the hunting of quail and turtle dove in spring did not threaten the species. Speaking in Victoria, spokeswoman Kathleen Grima said there were enough safeguards protecting the species. Out of the 7.5 million hunted in the EU every year, only 16,000 were allowed to be hunted in spring in Malta.
Hunting was also allowed for just 20 half days in April while most of the migration of turtle dove took place in May, she added.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin said the European Court had never banned spring hunting and actually gave Malta the opportunity to apply for a derogation under strict conditions.