The Maltese need to rise above impulsivity and passion and move forward as a united people, the President said yesterday, reiterating her call for unity.
“Whether we are Nationalists or Labourites, whether we hail from Floriana or from Valletta, we are Maltese… We are all related and we need to do our utmost to rise above impulsiveness and passion and remember that we can only move forward as a united people.
“We cannot just be united occasionally, we need to stand together every hour of every day,” President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said at the Vilhena Philharmonic Society Club in Floriana. Accompanied by her husband, Edgar, the President was attending the annual reception on the occasion of the feast of St Publius.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who had earlier celebrated Mass at the parish church, called on those present to cherish unity.
He based his homily on St Paul’s hymn to love and the commentary by Pope Francis in his Amoris laetitia (The Joy of Love). The document is the post-synod apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis containing details on the Catholic Church’s approach to family issues. St Publius’s life and the example he provided confirmed that he was a man of great love who put his words into practice, Mgr Scicluna said.
Ms Coleiro Preca also drew parallels with the episode from St Publius’s life when he welcomed a shipwrecked crew and prisoners, including St Paul. Despite not knowing them, he took them in and his gesture of humanity was testament to the kind-heartedness the Maltese people were known for, she said. St Publius, whose love was so great, was a role model, the President added
More than ever before, the Maltese needed to love one other, even those they disagreed with, Ms Coleiro Preca said, adding that loving those who reciprocated one’s affection was the easiest thing to do. She warned against indifference to a situation of conflict in the Mediterranean which had left thousands of orphans and widows. She noted that if the Maltese were careless and did not love each other enough, they could end up in the same situation.
The President made a similar appeal for unity on Friday, which was backed by the Maltese bishops the following day.
Mgr Scicluna and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech expressed concern for the “situation in the country”.
“We call on all people of good will to weigh carefully the President’s words and we invite all Christians to pray. Above all, we need to pray for unity, liberty, truth and justice,” they said.