The worst sin is when man declares himself a judge of what is right and what is wrong and that is what is happening in Malta and Gozo. There are so many in power acting as ‘Pontius Pilate’, deeming themselves superior beings.

In reality, only God can guide man to understand what is good and what is bad.

Liberty is worth more than bread and, very often, man’s hunger for power becomes misguiding and destructive, crushing man’s personality.

Without freedom and truth, we cannot even call ourselves human beings. It is truth that makes us responsible and free. We have brought about a radical change of mind in the way we think and act. We forget that the biggest commitment of a Christian is being human.

In Malta, we are living in an era of imposition and fear, the biggest problem being that the poor and the humble are the victims, undefended and disarmed.

God gives us the possibility of making mistakes. However, we need to read the signs of the times because we are living in a horrible upheaval. Still, man is always responsible for his deeds.

I ask myself: is our faith in crisis? Man today does not want to submit and surrender himself to God. Man lives only because God keeps him alive. Indeed, God freely entrusted the marvellous creation to man.

Aldo Moro, killed in Rome by the Brigate Rosse, used to say: “When you tell the truth, you shouldn’t regret having said it. The truth is always illuminating. It helps to be brave.”

American William Faulkner writes: “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty, truth and compassion against injustice, lying and greediness.”

If people all over the world would heed such advice, they would change the world.

Two weeks before he died, aged 85, in August 2012, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini gave George Sporschill, a Jesuit, what would be his final interview. This is what he replied when asked how he viewed the situation of the Church:

“The Church is tired, in the Europe of well-being and in America. Our culture became old, our churches and our religious houses are big and empty, the bureaucratic apparatus of the Church grows, our rites and our dress are pompous. Do these things, however, express what we are today?... Well-being weighs on us.

“We find ourselves like the rich young man who went away sad when Jesus called him to be his disciple. I know that we can’t let everything go so easily. At least, however, we can seek people who are free and closest to their neighbour, like archbishop [Oscar] Romero and the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador.

“Where are the heroes among us who can inspire us? By no means do we have to limit them by the boundaries of the institution.”

Defend ‘our’ Gozo from destruction before it is too late- Fr Charles Cini

It is very difficult to understand which direction Malta is pursuing and what we want to achieve.

Aesop used to say: “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” And the late former Italian president Sandro Pertini, declared: “Always fight for liberty, peace and social justice. Liberty without social justice is but a fragile conquest that, for many, will mean being free to die of hunger.”

In Malta, we are living a horrible tragedy but people remain silent. Let us put our hands on our hearts and ask ourselves how we are behaving. Are we on the right track or not?

The mistakes of every government are paid for by its citizens, especially those who are innocent. This country has become a slave of the stubborn politicians who are sacrificing our dignity on the altar of the god of economics.

Spiritual ignorance is on the increase. Many are becoming rich at the expense of other honest citizens, with many families being the victims, humiliated and deprived of the bare essentials for survival.

I look in the eyes of many young people, who come to me for help, with curiosity and even dismay. Through contact with them I try to comprehend the most profound meaning of what is happening in the Maltese islands.

Are we aware who we are? Do we really know what is happening in Malta and Gozo?

We are fighting a battle we think we will win while, in Xlendi, to mention a place I know well, more horrible buildings, which Moviment Graffitti defines as a “monstrosity”, are in the pipeline.

I conclude by kindly asking the Gozo minister: are you aware of what is happening in Xlendi? As a minister of Gozo, are you capable of stopping this abomination? Have you ever driven from Victoria to Marsalforn? The bumpy road is in a pitiful state and unacceptable, like many others.

Sometimes, in my dreams, I imagine Francesco Agius De Soldanis turning in his grave.

Please, Gozitans, where are you all? Are you hiding behind the ħasira (sunblind)? Wake up and defend “our” Gozo from destruction before it is too late.

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