Archbishop Charles Scicluna turned the spotlight on environmental and migration issues when he guest-edited today’s edition of Times of Malta.

Taking over from editor-in-chief Steve Mallia, he assumed full control of the editorial agen-da, chairing news conference meetings and suggesting stories the journalists could follow.

“I didn’t appreciate how much discipline went into working as a team to deliver the news against such tight deadlines,” he said about his experience.

Mgr Scicluna also wrote today’s editorial (see page 15), which had to be 580 words in length, and compared the exercise to using Twitter, which does not allow the use of more than 140 characters.

Mgr Scicluna, who also faced the newsroom team for a question-and-answer session during his packed day, admitted that he had been expecting more of a “joyride”. (The resulting interview will appear in The Sunday Times of Malta.)

He was the first-ever guest-editor in Times of Malta’s 80-year history, an initiative the newspaper intends to repeat. “You made history, and it was wonderful being part of history,” he said.

As Archbishop Scicluna’s stint came to an end, Mr Mallia presented him with the framed front page of The Sunday Times of Malta that was published the day after his installation ceremony in March.

Archbishop Scicluna also visited Allied Newspapers' sister company Progress Press in Mriehel, where Times of Malta is printed.