Exerting Church's rights

At present I am residing abroad, but I do try to keep up to date as to what is happening at home. A lot has already been said about the proposed St John's Co-Cathedral Museum extension, with some of the debate trying to put the Church in a bad light.

The agreement between the government and the Church was for St John's Co-Cathedral to be jointly administered by both the government and the Church, with a commitment to consult each other on major decisions.

In the light of this therefore, in the whole debate about the museum project, it was only the Archbishop who, without taking any particular position on the project, was able to highlight this point. As the spokesman of the Archbishop was quoted: "The Archbishop expressed his position that it is not within the competence of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation to carry out such a major project without having in advance the approval of the two bodies that constitute the foundation, namely the Archdiocese of Malta and the Republic of Malta." As in any property case, it is only the legal representatives that can have a final say on the development of the property. If we look at this as a property case, the Archbishop was only exerting his rights on behalf of the Church and any statement issued had to be a joint statement.

Therefore I was quite saddened to read that political interpretation is being projected onto this joint statement, and casting the Archbishop in a negative light, a person whom I have known to be a true gentleman in all his dealings. Giving a political slant to the joint statement stems from a misrepresentation of the Archbishop's role and responsibilities in relation to the Co-Cathedral. It would be wise not to digress in the debate on the project, but rather to enhance it in an objective and constructive manner. Such a rich patrimony deserves nothing less.