Archbishop warns of Europe ‘creating a new style of apartheid’

With walls being built in Europe and in the Holy Land, the world is creating a new style of apartheid, Archbishop Charles J Scicluna has warned.

“If you go to the Holy Land it is so obvious, and if we continue building walls in Europe it will become more and more obvious in the future,” the Archbishop told a symposium on migration, organised this morning at Villa Francia in Lija.

“And so we have walls being built in the Holy Land, and walls being built in Europe, and we are creating a new style of apartheid.”

Commenting on the idea that building walls made people feel safer, Scicluna referred to comments by Pope Francis, who said that “in reality, barriers create divisions instead of promoting the true progress of peoples, and divisions sooner or later lead to confrontations”.

One of the great challenges of society, Scicluna added, was that people were doing things that benefitted them - be it economical or cultural.

Echoing the Pope's words, Scicluna said that “we need to approach situations even if we are called to recognise that they may not bringing us tangible and immediate benefits”.

When Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos earlier this year, he challenged Europe to remain rooted in a culture of hospitality and human rights. The Pope had urged European countries to never forget that migrants “are first of all persons who have faces, names and individual stories”.

“Europe is the homeland of human rights, and whoever sets foot on European soil ought to sense this, and thus become more aware of the duty to respect and defend those rights,” the Archbishop said.

“Unfortunately, some, including many infants, could not even make it to these shores: they died at sea, victims of unsafe and inhumane means of transport, prey to unscrupulous thugs.”

Scicluna went on to remind those attending the symposium that Malta’s own Catholic faith, as told in the book of Acts, derived from a decision to greet over 270 people who had been shipwrecked on Malta’s shores about 60 AD.

“Publius actually was very generous with them, he let them stay in his countryside home near Burmarrad, for three days, I mean ... not a mean feat," the Archbishop quipped.

“Over 270 people staying at your table for three days, and then he was wise enough to let them roam on the islands ... I’m sure there were also some who married on the islands, who knows? The Acts of Apostles however talks about these ‘barbaroi’ who demonstrated an unusual hospitality and made this narrative inspire us even today.”