Pope Benedict's visit bears with it all the characteristics of his Papacy. It happens in the wake of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who was the first Pope to visit Malta. It also carries with it the world media attention on controversial issues on a par to the visit itself.
The media had an undoubted 'love-affair' with Pope John Paul II. He became a part of history the moment he first appeared on the balcony of St Peter's as the first non-Italian Pope to be elected in four centuries. The media quickly got wise of John Paul's sense of turning events into potent symbols of his message to the world. The media intuited also that practically every Pope's appointment was an appointment with history and history is never far from politics.
The Polish Pope gave the definitive answer to the question the Soviet communist leader Josef Stalin had famously asked on how many military divisions had the Vatican. The answer was, of course, "none" but enough to bring down the Wall of Berlin and the atheist communist regimes of Eastern Europe.
The second non-Italian Pope is not blessed with such an affair with the international media. After waving to the crowd of St Peter's, the pressing call for the immediate sanctification of his predecessor became a media event equal to his election.
Yet, this would be a terrible misjudgement of what both Pope Benedict and his visit are about.
The times of Pope John Paul were more "black or white" then ours. No longer so. Internationally, the war on terrorism has replaced the Cold War. Now, the enemy may be more from within than from the outside. The world financial crisis has removed any economic certainties. Locally, illegal immigration is raising serious questions of identity and the responses to it are as morally soul-searching.
Recently, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici publicly stated that for him the decision to allow a boat with illegal immigrants sink without attempting to do anything about it is not an option, as it should not be. Yet, he felt the need to state so in the wake of the increasing insecurities the phenomenon is constantly creating.
The secular world, with more than a push from political sources, is demanding greater separation between Church and state even though our national identity is marked by millennia of Christian culture coupled by the existence of a very strong spiritual and religious community. We do say no to abortion and accept the Cross as a cultural symbol in the classroom but equally the Christian concept of marriage and sexuality is more and more subject to open contestation, even though the vast majority of marriages are celebrated in church.
The Pope is therefore coming here in the name of renewed spiritual dialogue with the material world as clearly stated by himself in the encyclical Charity In Truth. It tackles the material challenges of the world: the global economic crisis, the challenges represented by technology, bio-ethics, the family, ecological sensitivity and, therefore, the environment, population growth, globalisation and, hence, the explosion of worldwide interdependence, interaction between cultures, trade unionism are but a few of the issues the encyclical deals with.
In the words of Benedict: "Truth, in fact, is lógos which creates diá-logos, and, hence, communication and communion. Truth, by enabling men and women to let go of their subjective opinions and impressions, allows them to move beyond cultural and historical limitations and to come together in the assessment of the value and substance of things. Truth opens and unites our minds in the lógos of love: this is the Christian proclamation and testimony of charity."
This Papacy knows all too well therefore that the world of Pope John Paul has changed and that the new challenges anticipated by Benedict's predecessor are to be faced head on in the spirit of dialogue no matter how difficult they are. He also knows by now that no discount will be offered to him in so doing.
This Pope, in turn, poses a challenge to the media to go beyond portraying the Papacy in terms of "Jesus Christ Superstar" as it did with John Paul at the expense of his teachings. This Pope challenges the media to tackle rationally the substance of the message. Here it is Benedict who is not offering any discount.
Benedict's visit is, above all, a journey in the wake of St Paul. It is no co-incidence that the concluding words of Charity In Truth are:
"At the conclusion of the Pauline Year, I gladly express this hope in the apostle's own words, taken from the Letter to the Romans: 'Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honour (Rom 12:9-10)'".
Dare the island of Paul say Amen.