Valletta FC’s epic league win

On May 2, 1998, that is 23 years ago today, an epic match was played at the National Stadium.

Valletta versus Birkirkara attracted the most enthusiastic crowd at Ta’ Qali. Birkirkara only needed a draw to win their first ever championship while Valletta required a win to claim the league in the tournament’s final match.  

It was the first ever local game transmitted live on Television Malta.

The gates were closed an hour before kick-off​ as the stadium​ witnessed its largest attendance to date for a top local game.

Valletta born player Stefan Giglio put the citizens ahead with a fine volley but, before half time, another city boy, Ivan Zammit, levelled the game for the stripes. In the meantime, Valletta goalkeeper Reggie Cini made a fine save diving to his left to save Joe Brincat’s penalty.

At the end, it was Joe Zarb ‘il- brimba’ who decided it all with one of his trademark precise penalties. That put the city fans into raptures and sent the stripes fans disappointed back home.

The rest is history with wild celebrations in the capital after the game.

The following season, Valletta again won another championship to claim​ its third win in a row and its 17th title in the club’s history.

Peter Galea – Valletta

Presidential pardons

I refer to the Degiorgio brothers’ second request for a presidential pardon. I am a citizen who follows quite closely these developments which I am clearly not happy about.

I find it very surprising that nobody in Malta has yet weighed the pros and cons of having to resort to a presidential pardon when just 100 kilometres away in Italy they enacted a law that has been extremely successful first in defeating extreme right- and left-wing terrorism that afflicted Italy in the 1970s and later the mafia.

I don’t know if it is a lack of creativity or a lack of inquisitiveness on the part of investigating journalists. Or whether it is once again a total subservience to the legal profession in Malta and the extreme power they hold in this country, including to enter politics without giving up their private practice, or even to be nominated to the judiciary, something impossible in many other European countries.

In Italy the ‘legge sui pentiti’ (law 304) means that mafia turncoats are given a reduced sentence, not a clean slate as we sometimes do here. The law revolves around the fact that investigated suspects that plead guilty and turn in state evidence do so because they want to repent and change their ways,  which means that they still do time in jail. For example, someone given a life sentence (typically 23 years in Italy) who benefits from this law will still have to serve time (say, 12 or 15 years) and is entitled to state protection.

However, one should also note the dangers of such a law. In fact, the French always objected to the law because it was subject to abuse and that was the main reason why the French state refused to extradite Italian terrorists who escaped to France in the 1970s and 1980s whenever this law was invoked.

An emblematic case was the indictment of the famous Italian TV personality Enzo Tortora. He had been unjustly accused of collusion with the mafia and it took him two to three years to prove his innocence. The mafia had deliberately invented his involvement to discredit the law. While the law is far from perfect, however, it has nonetheless proved its worth by putting many gangsters behind bars.

I believe that the above is something worth looking into and we should look at what happens in the world around us and make some critical comparisons.

Alex Borg – St Julian’s

Mothers’ care and tender love

A friend of mine told me that when he was still a toddler his cot was placed as near the stove as possible. It was only many years later that he became aware that it was the only spot in a cold house where there was some form of heating. His mother dedicated the limited warmth to her young son.  That’s what a mother does.

A young mother was passing through a very difficult period as there were signs that her first pregnancy might require surgery. She spent sleepless nights, praying for her expected baby, which eventually was born in perfect health.  That is what a mother does.  She keeps faith.

When a relative was also expecting her first baby, she was surrounded by many relatives, her mum, her stepmum, mother-in-law, aunts and sisters, all excited to help. But she kept them at a distance. She wanted to enjoy her baby while also believing that she had to prove herself capable of being a new mum. 

That’s what mothers do. They try to carry the load for everyone. Thankfully, her relatives knew how exhausting childbirth is and stuck around. They gathered around to help the next generation. Because that’s also what mothers do.

Sacrificial love for the sake of others is the best kind. And a true loving mother will sacrifice everything, her health, her happiness, her own life, to make sure that her baby would have the best life could offer.  Thus, above everything else, that is what a true loving mother is for and does!

This is why Mother’s Day, which we celebrate next Sunday, is so important. Only a mother can be so caring, so altruistic, so loving, so ready to make any sacrifice for her children. Also, this is why, as a general rule, children love and respect their mothers.

With the current pandemic restrictions, it will not be possible to take your mother for a sumptuous meal but there are many ways and means to show your love and make the day special for her.

Frans Said – St Paul’s Bay

Prayers from Ethiopia

Less than two months ago, the Mission Fund of Malta offered a donation of €2,000 for a new building at our retreat house called Galilee Centre, in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Now their generosity has again been expressed by an offer of a further donation of €10,000.

This donation of €10,000, which will cover half of the third payment that will be due after the completion of the slabs on the ground floor rooms, has given us a great encouragement in our search for funds. 

This latest donation has helped Galilee Centre to secure 70 per cent of the cost of this phase that we started at the end of February. We also continue to rely on God’s providence and work hard to seek the help of our friends and benefactors to find the funds needed to complete the building.

Restricted as we are with the COVID-19 pandemic, we, at the Galilee Centre, are still open and offering our services to small groups who come here for their retreats and prayerful rest. We hope that, with the progress of the vaccination programme, more people will feel safe to come and make use of the new rooms.

Please continue to support the Mission Fund by sending them used stamps and donations. It is one way of helping the Maltese sisters and priests ministering in the churches abroad in a practical way.  Kindly send your donations to one of the following accounts: HSBC: account no.: 061 197 448 050; BOV: account no.: 163 007 980 19; APS: account no.: 200 008 207 62; or BANIF: account no.: 000 879 631 01.

If you need more information on the Mission Fund, please access its website: www.missionfund.org.mt. 

Hoping that the worst of the COVID-19 difficult health situation is over, let us be grateful to God and enjoy His gift of health.

On my part, I promise to pray for the well-being of your families in my daily Eucharist. Support us with your prayers. May God and Mother Mary be always a source of consolation for us.

Fr Joseph Pullicino SJ – Debre Zeit, Ethiopia

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