Fi New Zealand

L-aħbar tat-traġedja terroristika li seħħet Christchurch kienet waħda minn dawk li jaqtgħuk mill-qiegħ. Minħabba n-numru ta’ nies li mietu innoċentement. Minħabba li nqatlu f’kondizzjonijiet atroċi. Minħabba l-mod “ħaj” kif dan sar minn fuq il-midja soċjali. Minħabba l-fatt li ħafna mill-vittmi kienu qed diġà jaħarbu mill-persekuzzjoni f’pajjiżhom. Minħabba l-idea li kellna ta’ New Zealand bħala pajjiż paċifiku u kalm…

Niftakar lil Christchurch qabel it-terremot li sfiguraha. Tasal fiha wara li tkun qsamt kampanja ħadra u ċatta, mimlija mergħat fejn ngħaġ smin donnu qed jgħix biex ikun għex ħajja tajba. Imbagħad il-belt li donnha tgħix bin-nifs ta’ Ewropa raħlija u kolta, sa minn żewġ sekli ilu. Nadifa u kwieta.

Għalija għadha ħaġa diffiċli timmaġina kif massakru bla sens ta’ dik il-ħruxija seta’ jseħħ fi Christchurch. Biss, wara kollox, l-atti terroristiċi jistgħu jseħħu kull fejn taħseb li ma jistgħux jinqalgħu.

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GĦAD HEMM XI JSIR?

Il-gvern Laburista wettaq il-viżjoni tiegħu għall-pajjiż jew għad hemm xi jsir?

Naħseb li wettaq parti importanti ħafna minn dak li ħassel għal Malta fl-aħħar għaxar snin. Personalment kont nemmen li forsi fil-bidu kien qed ikun ambizzjuż wisq. Kont naf kemm gvern Laburista se jsib quddiemu bsaten fir-roti meta jiġi biex iwettaq li jkun wiegħed. Min-naħa l-oħra m’hemm xejn ħażin filli gvern jissettja ambizzjonijiet għolja għall-ħidma tiegħu.

Naqbel li dil-ħaġa tat ir-riżultati, anke f’oqsma fejn għal raġuni jew oħra, l-gvern mhux qed jingħata biżżejjed krettu għal li diġà rnexxielu jwettaq.

Li jeħtieġ isir issa hu li dwar dak li għad baqa’ x’jitwettaq, il-gvern Laburista jimmobilizza r-riżorsi kollha tiegħu biex iżomm ir-rankatura u jwettqu.

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KNISJA KATTOLIKA

Il-problemi li nqalgħu fil-Knisja Kattolika huma enormi. Ma nafx kif jistgħu jinħallu. Mhumiex problemi li skattaw illum jew ilbieraħ. Ilhom ibejtu u jinxterdu fl-istrutturi tal-kattoliċeżmu s-sekli u kulħadd baqa’ jdawwar ħarstu n-naħa l-oħra.

Fi kriżi bħal din, periklu għall-istituzzjoni klerikali hu li titqies li kollox fiha hu ħażin u mmermer.

Issa, jien m’inix xi sostenitur tal-Knisja Kattolika imma lanqas ma nifhem li kull ma għamlet jew qed tagħmel hu ħażin. Bil-maqlub, nara kif ħafna milli ssemmi u tipprattika hu siewi u xieraq, minkejja difett ieħor li għandha – dak li tinkoraġġixxi l-fehma li l-inizjattivi tagħha biss huma t-tajba.

Allura l-mistoqsija kbira li l-Knisja trid tirriżolvi hi: kif se taqta’ minn ġo fiha l-ħażen li ħakimha mingħajr ma teqred dik il-parti minnha li għadha siewja u xierqa?

English Version – In New Zealand

The news of the terrorist tragedy at Christchurch really rocked you. Because so many innocent people were gunned down. Because they were killed under atrocious conditions. Because executions were conducted “live” on social media. Because of the fact that many victims were already on the run from persecution in their own country. Because of the idea we had of New Zealand as a peaceful and calm community, which it is…

I remember Christchurch as it stood before it got disfigured by the earthquake that struck it after my visit. You would arrive there after having travelled through a flat countryside, all in green, cluttered with meadows where flocks of fat sheep seemed to be thriving just by living a good life. Then you entered a city which seemed to flourish on the basis of a European lifestyle, part rustic, part cultured, kept like so over the last two centuries. Everything was spick and span, calm.

As of now, I still find it difficult to imagine how such a senseless massacre could have happened in Christchurch and at such a horrible level of savagery. However, to be sure, terrorist acts will continue to play wherever one believes they cannot actually occur.

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What remains to be done?

Has the Labour administration implemented its vision for the country or are there still things that need to be done?

Personally, I feel that quite a very important part of what Labour prospected for Malta in the past ten years has been accomplished, though I did think initially that the proposals being made were too ambitious. I knew how tough would be the difficulties and hassles placed in the path of a Labour government once it came to carry out what it was elected to do.

I agree that this approach gave good results, even in areas where for one reason or another, the government is not being given sufficient credit for what it has already accomplished.

What needs to be done now is that the Labour government should marshall all its resources to maintain the momentum and to implement all that still awaits delivery.

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Catholic Church

I hardly know how the Catholic Church can hope to resolve the enormous problems that it faces. They were not triggered right now or even the day before yesterday. They must have been festering and spreading in the structures of Catholicism for centuries, while everybody kept looking the other way.

In such a crisis, any clerical setup runs the grave risk of being considered as totally evil and totally rotten.

Now, I am far from being a supporter of the Catholic Church but neither do I consider all that it has done or is doing as evil. To the contrary, I have to agree that much of what it advocates and practises is useful and praiseworthy, despite another flaw embedded in the Church – that of promoting the view that only its initiatives are the right ones.

So the huge dilemma that the Church must confront at present reads as follows: How can it eradicate the evil that has infiltrated its organization without destroying those elements of it which are valid and praiseworthy?