Lina Caruana (The Sunday Times, June 6) asked not to be involved in any contribution regarding the right to private property after she herself (May 16) had argued that owning land is considered as a fundamental human right. I too have a right not to agree with her and hence my replies.

As land is a 'common heritage of mankind' it should have remained as public property.

Land was initially administered by rulers in the interests of the inhabitants until these administrators abusively distributed the land between them and their vassals. For three centuries Christians practised their equal right to the bounties provided by nature.

But when the Romans, who had conquered the former Carthaginian empire of north Africa, distributed large estates to their war veterans. the Church did not offer to resist such immoral distribution. It became dominated by the 'landlords' to the extent that all of north Africa rebelled against Christianity and became Muslims under the slogan taken from the Bible, "The land belongs to God"; "land must not be sold in perpetuity, for the land belongs to me and you are only strangers and guests".

This concept underlines all the Bible's teaching on land. No other teaching is indicated prior to the time of Moses, nor is the teaching anywhere repealed.

Unfortunately, the Church authorities followed the Romans' greed, and in nearly all of Europe became the biggest landlord.

I wish to point out that the historical events I have quoted above are found in the document presented by the Rev. R. Archer Torrey titled Biblical Economics