Archbishop Charles Scicluna’s scathing homily on Independence Day marked a welcome, if long overdue return to the public forum. In what can be read as a direct attack on the political class sat in front of him, the archbishop stated that “greed for money and power is spreading like a disease”, resulting in the “uglification of the Maltese landscape”.

It was Scicluna’s first such intervention in a fairly long time, having appeared to take a back seat ever since Robert Abela became prime minister. A day later, there was news of the anger of several Għargħur residents at development projects set to engulf the town’s core. The developers had bought the land from the Church itself.

The Curia didn’t do a great job of explaining matters, choosing to quote the archbishop’s homily while passing the buck over to the authorities (the Planning Authority, the Environmental Resources Authority and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage). Besides the fact that the Church refused to take its responsibilities, there’s a touch of naivete in the assumption that the three authorities will ignore their own policies and deny the developers their permit.

The prime minister himself was quick to point out the irony of all this, by claiming that neither the archbishop nor Finance Minister Clyde Caruana – who spoke out against Malta’s dependency on construction during a Labour event in Gozo – were asking to put an end to development. Abela took matters further by stating that, while aesthetics had to be respected, there is a need to “build upwards”.

But while the prime minister gleefully pointed out the Għargħur episode, telling the press that the archbishop himself “is not against development”, the Għargħur pastiche alone cannot dilute the message of that homily.

First of all, the construction industry is indeed speeding ahead without any holds barred, the very sentiment that was echoed by Caruana. In 2020, while most other sectors were shuttered by the pandemic, construction went ahead unbridled. Between 2013 and 2018, a total of 52,448 residential units were approved by the PA, with only half of them built by the end of that year. This means that permits issued in the record years of 2018 and 2019 are yet to be transformed into dwellings.

At the same time, Abela’s statements – unlike those of his former chief of staff – are an indication that more, not less, construction is to be expected. Is his repeated mention of “building vertically” an indication of an imminent increase in building heights? This would herald another five to 10 years of incessant construction with more storeys, and darker, more claustrophobic towns. It would also lead to more towers and the sacrifice of numerous zones in Malta to the altar of high-rises – including Mrieħel, Marsa and now also Ħal Far.

At the same time, it would feed the greed which Scicluna mentioned in his homily. There’s the temptation to discredit the message on account of the messenger and falling for that is not a venial sin.

What Scicluna spoke about can be seen in incidents and statements that are very diverse and disparate from each other: from a contractor allegedly dumping a migrant worker on the roadside after a two-storey fall, to Joseph Portelli’s ostentatious interview atop his Zaha Hadid tower in Paceville, where he proceeded to outline his personal vision for Malta, made of stone, steel, towers, unknown moneys and pressures on cabinet ministers.

With elections looming, it becomes clearer than ever that history will not absolve our politicians, our businesspeople and, in some cases, our clergy too.