LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese government paid a tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s memory and has offered its condolences to the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI had visited Malta in April 2010 for a 27-hour visit. He also canonised Dun Gorg Preca, making him Maltàs first saint during a ceremony in St Peter’s Square in June 2007. The Maltese government stated that Prime Minister Robert Abela remembers fondly his meeting with the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI during his pastoral visit to Malta, as well as meetings held during the same visit, including one with Maltese youths. Opposition leader Bernard Grech also paid tribute, and recalled the 2010 visit and Ratzinger’s appeal to the nation then. The President of Malta George Vella also recalled the 2010 visit, as he saluted the memory of the late pope emeritus. The Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna has paid tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In a video message, the Archbishop said his heartfelt tribute to a great man, is also a tribute to a great and wise man of the Church. “He dedicated his life to teaching, to study. In his great humility and wisdom, he was a great servant of the people of God. His experience at the Vatican Council II opened up to him, his mind and his heart, to the great horizons of the Catholic world and to the people of God around the world,” Archbishop Scicluna said. Describing him as an accessible person, the archbishop hailed his teachings.
“We Maltese will always remember Pope Benedict for the great gift of canonizing our saint, St George Preca, and also for his visit to Malta in 2010. He came as a pilgrim of reconciliation at a difficult time for the Church around the world. He came with his humility, with his wisdom, with his candor, with his modesty. He left an indelible mark in our hearts”. Mgr Scicluna thanked the pope emeritus for nominating him bishop in 2012. “I would like to also thank God for the gift of such a great teacher and shepherd”, he said.
(ITALPRESS).
-photo credit agenziafotogramma.it-

Source: medNews