I take my cue in reply to the letter by Bernard A. Vassallo (March 29) to reiterate my view that the organisers of the Papal visit - and the Curia is also to blame and so is the Papal Nuncio - have missed a golden opportunity to serve the Catholic Church at a crucial time by turning the Malta visit into that of a tourist to be seen by as many people as possible rather than that of a pilgrim following in the footsteps of St Paul.

To miss out on His Holiness visiting the sites of the shipwreck (and to show this live on television) is to miss out on the message to the world that it was St Paul who brought the Faith to Europe. As I said, the youth rally should have been held on the Qawra front not in the commercialised Valletta waterfront with no hint of the Christian tradition, with the young people attracted so superficially by what have been dubbed Christian bands. How does one distinguish between a Christian band and a non-believing band?

As the current events hitting the Vatican develop in the next few days I am certain it will be seen what a golden opportunity has been missed to show the world the message of the Acts of the Apostles.