Photo: Chris Sant FournierPhoto: Chris Sant Fournier

Next year will be very important for Valletta.

Pope Pius V had encouraged the Knights of St John to build the city of Valletta. I cannot describe or explain in a few lines the importance of Pope Pius V for Valletta and for all of us Maltese.

One can gauge the importance of this pope through the internet, books and from the national library.

I would really love to see his monument in a more prominent place, say near the Parliament building at the entrance to Valletta where it once used to stand.

Let us imitate him.

He began his pontificate by giving generous alms to the poor instead of distributing his bounty haphazardly, like his predecessors.

As Pontiff he practised the virtues he had displayed as a Dominican monk and bishop. As a boy, he worked as a shepherd.

Hopefully, we can also imitate him in his saintly life.

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