It was a lightning visit which on many, I think, left the effect of lightning. Many were afraid that enthusiasm was low and would remain low.
In my column in The Sunday Times, which I wrote the previous Wednesday, I bet that the welcome would be great and warm. It surely was. The light rain on Sunday morning helped to cool the air but not people's enthusiasm. Many people felt that the charisma of office is more important for them that the personal charisma of the holder of the office.
The Maltese welcomed the Pope more than they welcomed the person holding the office. Many discovered a bonus on top of that. They discovered that the holder of the office is not the "cold" person he is depicted to be. Many fell in love with Benedict during the last weekend.
Were the crowds as large as 20 years ago? I don't think they were; but this is not the same country as 20 years ago. It is a more secularized country and religious practice is lower. However, the crowds were large enough to show that the Christian message and the Church are still in the heart of the vast majority of the people.
In future blogs I will analyze the speeches, but a comment I must make about the speech by President Abela. Was that great speech Dr Abela's or a speech reflecting Government's policy? I put the question to Prime Minister Gonzi. He said that it was the President's speech. He quickly added, though, that the speech did not just reflect Government's sentiments but those of the Maltese people. Right on target Dr Gonzi!
During most of the time of the "Papal" weekend, I was cooped up in the studios of timesofmalta.com. Together with Charles Sacco and (on Sunday) with Susan Sacco I was making the commentary for the special streaming of the Papal activities that timesofmalta.com was doing. On Saturday, as part of our commentary, we contacted several persons asking them for their comments about the visit.
One of the persons contacted was the Ambassador of the United States, Prof Douglas Kmiec. I think that due to a slight communication misunderstanding he did not give us a phone-interview but he sent his comments in writing. They are so beautiful and inspiring that I feel I should share them with you.
Ambassador's comments
These are the US ambassador's comments:
"As I stood in the receiving line awaiting the Holy Father, I could not help but contrast in my mind the red carpet and military band and dignitaries greeting His Holiness Benedict XVI with the far less comfortable shipwreck of St. Paul nearly two millennia ago.
"As sharp a contrast as that image may be, there are several definite similarities between Paul's shipwreck here 1,950 years ago and Benedict's arrival. In both instances, Malta extended a welcome of "uncommon kindness," and in both instances, there was suffering in the Church. Paul's shipwreck occurred during his journey of captivity on his way to endure a trial for his teaching of the Gospel. Pope Benedict XVI comes at a moment when the grievous and inexcusable behavior of a few has brought distress to many. The Church is daily embattled in the press.
"Nonetheless, as I greeted the Pope, I did not see despair, but hope, in his eyes. "On behalf of the President of the United States and the American Embassy," I said, "we welcome you to this extraordinary place of "faith and family." The Holy Father smiled and softly thanked me as Bishop Grech who stood behind him inquired whether I had received a recent letter from him. "No, not yet," I said. Well, thank you, said the bishop for having the courage to speak out declaring in public press that current events are irrelevant to one's love of the Church,." the Ambassador said. (See Times of Malta, April 11, 2010).
Such declarations, you might think are not the usual utterances of a diplomat. Though it distresses some of my colleagues for me to speak of these matters, I take my example from the Paul described in Benedict XVI's writing, where he noted that "[Paul] was not a diplomat. When he made diplomatic attempts, he had little success. He was a man who had no other weapon than the message of Jesus Christ."
Whether diplomacy is ultimately judged successful or not (mine or anyone else's) is less important than staying true to what Pope Benedict XVI referred to as Paul's "sword of truth." That is what was spoken at the Malta International Airport: truth. The President of the country, George Abela, told the truth about incipient secularity even in highly Catholic Malta. And in turn, the Holy Father spoke of Paul's reception of "uncommon kindness," which I have experienced regularly as an aspect of the Maltese personality. The Holy Father likewise seemed to commend Malta's effort to address the problems of migration humanely even as doing so involves economic suffering or burden. It is well known that Malta saves refugees from the treacherous sea only to receive little resettlement support, though the U.S. stands with Malta welcoming some 434 migrants to the States.
Malta historically, said the Pope, has been a defender of the faith defeating many foes of Christianity. Today, the formidable foe of faith - "secularism" lies just north of Malta in southern and western Europe and to the south in Africa, where the challenge is those who have sought to stir hatred - wrongly -- into Islamic belief. There is a need, said, the Holy Father, to carry on the inter-faith dialogue for which Malta is so well situated at the cross-roads of Christian, Muslim and Hebraic thought.
The ostensible purpose of the Papal visit was the Pauline anniversary, but the larger purpose proved to be the first-hand witnessing of the vibrancy of the Catholic Church in Malta as the Holy Father prayerfully searches for answers for why so many Catholics elsewhere in the world are adrift from their faith.
President Abela's insightful remarks almost seemed to make the inquiry unnecessary by confessing a cultural casualness toward marriage, disregarding its procreative purpose and its inescapable role in formation of young people. However, as grateful as the Holy Father was for that recognition of the preeminence of family, the Pontiff's words revealed that there are deeper issues of alienation of Catholics in Europe or the United States as evidenced by declines in Mass attendance, priestly vocations, and marriage within the European and American Church.
What will Pope Benedict XVI discover among those who have turned away or felt driven from the Church, remains to be seen. As he proceeds outward into greater Europe and the U.S., he will find anxiety over everything from the exclusion of women from the priesthood to judicial rulings banning the crucifix from display. There will be anger expressed by some, and the Pope understands the source of such anger. "It is more comfortable," he once noted, "to live the lie," but then men get angry about the truth.
The story of Saint Paul is that we are saved, the Pope wrote some years ago "not by the sword of the conquerors, but by the sword of those who suffer. Only following Christ leads to the new brotherliness, to the new city." The Holy Father's presence among us, in this remarkable island nation of faith and family, should renew our confidence to find the way.
In the words of Dun Gorg Preca, magister, utinam sequatur evangelium universes mundus. ("Divine Teacher, may the whole world follow the Gospel.")