Ever since the Jesuit Order in Malta earlier this year decided to stop its Sunday Mass service in St Ignatius Church at the corner of Old College Street in Sliema, the historic building has been in an ongoing state of rapid deterioration.

A surrounding iron-grid wall is now gradually turning into a safety hazard as the old concrete columns lean dangerously outwards, while on the other side of it stray cats, kindly fed and seen to by residents in the area, take cover amongst the wild plants sprouting from every nook and corner to add to the sad, unholy spectacle.

St Ignatius Church goes back 127 years and has been, for most of that time, a focal point of religious activity in the area. With its rich history and special role within the Sliema community as well as its architectural significance, the church deserves to be given a new lease of life.

The Sliema local council would do well to undertake its restoration, and - if the Jesuits do not rethink their decision to stop their one sole Sunday Mass service in it - to consider converting the building to other social uses before one of the vampire-like developers turns his hyperactive eye on to it. The place could be turned into a Sliema museum or a cultural centre, similar to the one that today functions within the ex-Methodist Church in Floriana.

From a religious viewpoint, St Ignatius Church, with its easy, street-level location, served as an ideal place for the many ageing and sick residents in the area, many of whom have had either to forfeit Sunday Mass altogether or switch to Mount Carmel parish church access to which demands from them a much tougher physical effort.

In its current deteriorating state, St Ignatius Church poses two challenges to 21st Century Sliema; one is physical, the other spiritual. Both seem beatable.