Apostolic Administrator Charles Scicluna appealed to the faithful to pray fervently as they waited for a new Archbishop.

“When we pray for the grace of a new Archbishop, we are in fact acknowledging in full faith that this is a gift which comes from the hands of God. This prayer must be offered with faith in the goodness of God our Father, in serenity and without troubled hearts and undue worry. In this way, our prayer and waiting will reflect a mature detachment that will help us accept that the person who will be nominated is a gift from God, which person we will welcome,” he said in his pastoral message for Lent (see pdf links below).

Bishop Scicluna said that Malta embarked on a time of prayer and waiting when Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona in October last year and nominated him Apostolic Administrator.

This, he said, could also be described as a moment of fasting while the Maltese waited for the nomination of a new Archbishop.

Without yet knowing who the new Archbishop would be, he said, the faithful needed to prepare themselves to adopt a positive outlook towards him and make a commitment in which there was no room for discouragement.

“At the same time, this attitude sets us free, allowing us to be sons and daughters, not bound to the person of the Archbishop, but to Jesus Christ. Whoever our Archbishop shall be, I will look at Christ, because he is the one who leads me and guides me.”

Bishop Scicluna also called on the community to grow in a spirit of making everybody feel at home, to welcome every person with a heart-warming love which led to charity, “where one can feel welcome, whoever he/she may be, from wherever he/she may hail”.

The Bishop also spoke on the importance of forgiveness, the commitment to win-over evil by the good within and around a person, the understanding to let out any wrong-doing from one’s life, the ability to share and the performance of acts of charity.