Pope Francis arrives in Malta calling for peace and the protection of life

Upon his arrival in the Republic of Malta Saturday, Pope Francis urged local government authorities to protect life and appealed to the international community to work for peace in the midst of war, which he said has “swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all.”

“Malta, which shines brilliantly in the heart of the Mediterranean, can serve as an inspiration to us, for it is urgent to restore beauty to the face of a humanity marred by war,” Pope Francis said in the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta on April 2.

Embarking on his first international trip of 2022, the pope landed the Mediterranean island country at 9:50 a.m. for the start of a two-day trip that will take him across Malta’s archipelago of islands to a Marian shrine on the island of Gozo, a migrant reception center in Hal Far, and the spot where St. Paul is said to have spent three months in 60 A.D.

A lively crowd of roughly 2,000 people waited for hours dancing and singing outside of the government building ahead of the pope’s private meeting with civil authorities there.

Pope Francis was welcomed by President George Vella and recently reelected Prime Minister Robert Abela at the Grand Master’s Palace in the capital city of Valletta shortly after his arrival.

In his speech to the civil authorities, the pope alluded to the war in Ukraine, calling for “human moderation before the infantile and destructive aggression that threatens us, before the risk of an enlarged Cold War that can stifle the life of entire peoples and generations.”

“This childishness, sadly, has not disappeared. It has reemerged powerfully in the seductions of autocracy, new forms of imperialism, widespread aggressiveness, and the inability to build bridges and start from the poorest in our midst,” he said.

“Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared, or not be at all,” he said.

“Now in the night of the war that is fallen upon humanity, please let us not allow the dream of peace to fade.”

Focus on human dignity, migration

The pope also urged the people of Malta to continue to “defend life from its beginning to its natural end.” Malta is the only remaining European Union member state to fully prohibit abortion.

“The basis of all solid growth is respect for the human person, respect for the life and dignity of every man and every woman,” the pope said.