It is wise to stop and reflect following an important event. This is even more relevant when the head of the Church, Pope Francis, spends two days in Malta, and makes two important speeches, one addressed to the dignitaries at the centre of national authority at the Palace in Valletta, and the other to the immigrants at the periphery of the islands, in Ħal Far. The themes were pertinent, poignant and interrelated.
The key words in the speech at the Palace were the need for “honesty, justice, a sense of duty and transparency as the essential pillars of a mature civil society”. The point here is that we need to create a culture of legitimacy built on a renewed morality and by applying laws which “will enable to eradicate corruption and criminality”. The rule of law goes beyond having a system of legislation that conforms on paper to international expectations, but it needs to be executed in an indiscriminate manner within a communal spirit of commitment, transparency and accountability.
The rule of law goes beyond having a system of legislation that conforms on paper to international expectations, but it needs to be executed in an indiscriminate manner within a communal spirit of commitment, transparency and accountability
It is for this reason that justice has a principal role. It is essential that in seeking to attain national growth and development, the moral imperative of social justice and human dignity are given the significance they deserve. When money, not the person, becomes the centre of a socio-economic system, and people are reduced to simple instruments for the attainment of either national or private goals, the country will only reflect the blatant inequalities and injustices created by “rapacious greed, avarice and construction speculation”.
In another address by Francis, this time to the authorities in the Philippines during his visit to that country in 2015, he pleaded for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good by political leaders. In a similar fashion, this time in Malta, he addressed the importance of protecting the environment and promoting social justice as “optimal ways to instil in young people a passion for healthy politics”.
A plea for the formation of politicians working genuinely for the common good, who place the human person and human dignity in the centre of policy making, and who consider everyone, including immigrants as “not statistics, but flesh and blood people with faces and dreams”.
The interrelationship between his speeches in Valletta and Ħal Far lies in his expression of hope that Malta will always treat those who land on its shores with “kindness and humanity, offering them a ‘safe harbour’”.
It is also significant that the pope said these words less than a week after the election of a new government. They present a challenge for a genuine renewal in parliament and government where a number of new MPs and new ministers are taking up their seats. It is an opportunity to revive the spirit of integrity and commitment that politics will allow all citizens and visitors, whether at the centre or the margin of society, whether they are believers or have no faith, in being guided by their conscience in choosing between what builds healthy and enduring relationships, and that which destroys society and the environment.