I strongly believe it is not the most powerful or the most intelligent who will survive but those willing to change.

I have often regretted being silent but never for having spoken. In the situation we are living in Malta and Gozo, I often shout: My God, where are You?

When a nation loses its beauty, its culture and, especially, its morality, it no longer has a backbone.

The question now is not how to get good people to rule but, rather, how to stop the powerful from doing as much damage as they can. Thucydides wrote: “Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was always the cause of all evils.” Baron de Montesquieu warned: “There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.”

We play with statues, enjoy village feasts and are exhilarated by fireworks. But what kind of values are we living? St Paul needs to return because, without faith, we cannot survive in our Christian life.

We must understand what it means to be a Christian in today’s Church and in the modern world. As Vatican Council II urged us, renewal begins with awareness and this means “the Church should deepen its consciousness of itself”.

As St John Paul II had warned, “without putting our faith in practice we are weak”.

Christians are the light of the world, fighting against darkness, seeking less material things but more heart. The will of God is not a pointed finger at my poor heart.

Benedetto Croce wrote: “We don’t need grandiose things and special people. We only need good Christians and honest people.” Where are these people?

The world persists in error and confusion. Where ignorance speaks, intelligence is silent.

I am scandalised by our silence. So much is happening and, still, so many remain silent, unless they are somehow affected. Friedrich Nietzsche said: “Silence is worse; all truths that are kept silent become poisonous.”

We are afraid to take action.

Take what is happening in Gozo, which I profoundly love, having been born there. We gave up our dignity, our principles, our values and our harmony. Money is what matters.

Life’s biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. Also, a person cannot be strong all the time; sometimes you just need to be alone and cry.

The strongest people make time to help others, even when struggling with their own problems. Beautiful faces are everywhere but beautiful hearts are hard to find.

And what about our leaders, of whatever kind? Carl Jung cautioned: “The most dangerous things in the world are immense accumulations of human beings who are manipulated by only a few heads.”

We are all born ladies and gentlemen. Our way of living is, hence, a big responsibility, including how we use the media. Love Island, broadcast on TVM recently, proves what I am saying.

In an educated society, one is obliged to respect the public, especially when it comes to money, satisfaction, ephemeral behaviour and immoral attitudes.

My humble appeal is for both the government and the ecclesiastical authorities to take action. This is not about politics. They must help us open our eyes and heart and to reflect on our responsibilities.

If they do not act now, I fear it will soon be too late. We are building a structure that will be very difficult to dismantle.

We gave up our dignity, our principles, our values and our harmony. Money is what matters- Fr Charles Cini

In the name of God, I implore, do not be too hardheaded and blinkered.

Dear politicians, do not just preach but lead by good example.

Parish priests, please, respect your dignity and mission. Don Bosco’s motto was “To be a good Christian and an honest citizen”. This is a vocation willed by God.

Young people are disorientated, confused and, sometimes, abused. Today’s young people are tomorrow’s citizens and Christians. So, let us forget politics and reassure them with our love and example. It is only by accompanying them and filling them with courage that we can save them.

I kneel down before disco and party organisers, before owners of bars and entertainment venues and ask them to, please, stop abusing our young people. Do not be enslaved by money.

The exaggerated sums of money spent on fireworks and to fuel the pomposity of our feasts is a big scandal when we think of so many people dying of hunger; when, in Ukraine and other war-torn countries, citizens are bombed, killed and deprived of everything, even their homes and personal belongings. The sombre faces we see on TV, especially of suffering children, should be enough to convince us.

Neither politics, much less religion, is a hobby.

During the plague in Turin, Don Bosco had courageously asked his mother, Mamma Margherita, to take the altar linens and turn them into bandages for patients. How many of our villages in Malta and Gozo, led by their parish priests, are ready to do the same?

Let us respect the dignity of our citizens and, more so, of Christians. Let us unite all our forces to save the sinking ship that is Malta and Gozo. Remove the bandages of dirty politics and fanatic religion, which are blocking our Christian and human vocation.

Let us appreciate and be proud of our dignity of Christians and citizens. Responsible people in Malta and Gozo do not want the concupiscent mentality of Love Island.

Let us return to our roots and values, brought to us by St Paul, based on culture and beauty.

Adam Mickiewicz, at a time of great hardship for his Polish homeland, wrote: “From chaos there rises the world of the spirit” and Abraham Lincoln had said: “Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”

State and Church, let us decide to move together to save our sinking ship.

Fr Charles Cini is a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.