All was not tranquil at the Mount St Joseph Retreat House yesterday, after staff at the peaceful Jesuit compound were shocked by a threatening note and bullet sent in by post.

The anonymous message, written on a piece paper with burnt edges, told the “dear Jesuit fathers” that “there are two types of people in the world, those who dig and those who hold the loaded guns”.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The message is a reference to the classic 1966 Spaghetti Western: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In the referenced scene, Clint Eastwood’s character orders a Mexican bandit to dig a hole in the desert as he shows him his loaded pistol – a veiled threat that if he did not obey his order, he would be shot.

The note, which also includes foul language, follows weeks of efforts by the local Jesuit community to stop a large open-air shooting range from being developed in the fields surrounding the retreat.

A final decision is yet to be taken on the controversial plan to construct the range, and the Jesuits have held meetings with the government to lobby against it.

The message is a reference to the classic 1966 Spaghetti Western: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The proposal being considered is for three ranges to be built in nearby barracks and the stretch of public land surrounding the retreat house in a part of Mosta known as Tal- Busbesija.

Jesuit provincial Patrick Margo yesterday told Times of Malta that although it was “a terrible shock” to have received the note and bullet, he would not be disheartened.

“Whoever sent this was sending a clear message, but it will not stop us from seeing this through to the end,” he said, striking a defiant tone. He said that if a shooting range was developed near the retreat, they might as well close their doors. As many as 10,000 annual visitors sought the retreat’s peace and quiet, which would be ruined by the sound of gunfire.

Jesuit priests were yesterday taken aback to receive a package containing a threatening message and a bullet, following weeks of lobbying against plans to open a shooting range near their Mount St Joseph retreat house in Mosta.

Both the letter and the bullet have been handed over to the police who are investigating the matter.

Fr Magro said the package was “clearly” linked to the Jesuits’ campaign to stop the shooting range project. While he repeatedly said he did not have any idea who could have sent the message, “... they want us to shut up but we will see this through to the end,” he added.

Meanwhile, Fr Lino Spiteri, who was the person who opened the package, told Times of Malta he was not surprised that a threat had been sent as he had been expecting it for some time.

“I was expecting this. I am not that worried, I’m more concerned that someone might do something stupid like vandalise our property,” he said.