Already 33 years late

A few days ago, one of my grandchildren was rummaging through a pile of his mother’s school magazines. At one point he picked up one and tossed it aside, so I asked to have a look at it. It was Lo Stivale (published by the division of education for students studying Italian).

This April 1990 issue carried a letter titled Come Tutelare la Laguna Blu di  Comino (How to protect Comino’s Blue Lagoon) by an Amanda Caruana (an 18-year-old then attending the G.F. Abela New Lyceum).

She listed, deliberately, a few not-so-novel suggestions and closed her letter with “To us 18-year-olds, implementing such a plan seems simple enough, yet it is continuously being postponed. Apparently to older people even the easy seems impossible.”

Thirty-three years later we see Caruana’s fears confirmed. Comino’s problems are, in fact, now far greater and worse, much worse; and the new project threatens to deal that haven of peace the coup de grace.

Faced with the power of wealthy entrepreneurs and the strong backing afforded to them by the government, many seem to have given up hope. It’s time that we Maltese realised that politicians are as strong as we let them be.

Comino’s Blue Lagoon. Photo: Shutterstock.com

We tend to leave abusive environmental projects, like the one being proposed for Comino, to the opposition and to environmental NGOs. But again, these are as strong as we make them; and many of us have abdicated this duty, not just vis-à-vis the NGOs but also, more importantly, our own children. Caruana did her bit 33 years ago; she realised that this was very much her struggle for a better future. She failed, but how could she ever succeed?

Much depends on parents and schools instilling in the new generations a sense of responsibility towards the environment. In this, Malta owes much to Moviment Graffitti; and the thousands of signatures it has always managed to attract in support of its projects, speak for themselves.

And yet, these numbers have still to be translated into crowds and actions, that is, militancy. Each one of us has to understand it is a battle for all of us to join. Stand up and be counted, it can only get worse.

Joseph Agius – St Paul’s Bay

Decline of religion

Times of Malta reported that “less than half of the population in England and Wales identifies as Christian... ‘no religion’ was the second most common response after Christian” (November 30).

In the US, “Christians could be a minority group by 2070 while the numbers of non-believers are rising” (The Guardian, September 15).

In Germany, “about 26 per cent of Germans are officially registered as Catholics and 23.7 per cent as Protestants... only 4.3 per cent of Catholics said they go to church most Sundays” (Deutsche Welle, June 28).

A few days before Pope Benedict passed away, Times of Malta reported that the pontiff “appeared overwhelmed by the challenges facing the Church that was losing influence and followers” (December 29).

In present-day Malta, “only 28 per cent of Gen-Zs (16- to 24-year-olds) described themselves as religious, with millennials (25 to 39) scoring even lower at 21 per cent”.

The Sunday Times of Malta (January 27, 2019) reported that “in 1967, more than 80 per cent of Catholics in Malta went to mass. By 2040, only 10 per cent will... Data from the last census shows young people are staying away in droves.”

The empty pews will transform Malta’s baroque churches into the tombs and sepulchres of God.

John Guillaumier – St Julian’s