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3 days ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
A retired bishop said on live television that he would urge abuse victims to forgive their perpetrator before going to the police. George Frendo, who until 2021 served as archbishop of an Albanian diocese, was speaking during a programme on religious TV channel UTV last week. “The first thing I would say to a person who is hurt is to encourage them to forgive before telling them to go to the police,” he said.
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4 days ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
People adopted 337 dogs and 178 cats from the government's animal welfare shelters last year. The figures were tabled in parliament on Tuesday by animal rights minister Anton Refalo. He was replying to parliamentary questions by PN MP Ivan Bartolo. The Animal Welfare Directorate's shelters work to rehome abandoned and stray animals. The adoption process generally involves several steps to ensure a good match between the animal and its new family.
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6 days ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
The government cannot rescind the Manoel Island concession, despite a petition calling for the site to become a national park, but a solution may be achieved if everybody came together, the prime minister said on Sunday. Manoel Island was granted to the Midi consortium some 25 years ago, but activists over the past weeks gathered over 29,000 signatures in a petition that urged the government and Midi to scrap plans for commercial and residential units and return the island to the public.
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6 days ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit |Daniel Ellul
A small cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday left practically everyone dissatisfied, with most ministers involved not getting what they wanted. Many ministers and junior ministers wanted to stay put but a few wanted fewer, or more, or different responsibilities, for different reasons. Sources agree almost nobody got what they wanted in the end and the whole exercise only made everyone involved somewhat more disgruntled with Robert Abela.
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1 week ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
A rumour that Bernard Grech is planning to resign in the coming days is "fake news", the PN said on Friday. Rumour spread among Labour and PN circles on Thursday and Friday morning that the party leader might be planning an exit over the weekend or next week. But in a reply to Times of Malta on Friday, the party shot down the claim, saying the rumour was made up and spread by Labour. "This is nothing but fake news," the party said.
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1 week ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
Cardinal Mario Grech was among a handful of names mentioned in Catholic circles as being a potential successor to the late Pope Francis. In this exclusive interview recorded inside the Vatican, Cardinal Grech says he was relieved he was not the man chosen to lead the Catholic Church. Cardinal Grech sheds light on the conclave that led to the election of Pope Leo XIV and also touches on various challenges the Church faces, including the problem of many priests not wanting to become bishops.
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1 week ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
A 9,000-square-metre plot of land in Pembroke, once a concrete expanse, has been transformed into a green space, now officially known as St David's Garden. The garden was developed by Project Green and inaugurated on Monday by Environment Minister Miriam Dalli, Project Green CEO Joseph Cuschieri, and Pembroke Mayor Kaylon Zammit. Photos: DOI / Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Public CleanlinessThe minister emphasised the ongoing commitment to creating more open spaces for communities.
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1 week ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
Cardinals chose Robert Francis Prevost to be pope because they wanted a shepherd who mends internal divisions and a bridge-builder in global conflicts, according to Cardinal Mario Grech. “For most of us [cardinals] it was the first experience in a conclave, and during the meetings before the conclave we mainly discussed two things – what the reality of the Church today is, and what sort of pope we want,” he told Times of Malta. “Did we want a copy of Francis? A politician? A diplomat?
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1 week ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
Archbishop Charles Scicluna hit back at critics who accused him of being "extremist and heartless" when speaking against the introduction of euthanasia. The Archbishop was giving his homily at the Hospice church in Santa Venera when he made the statement. During the Sunday mass, Scicluna said that a public debate, which the government specifically stated should be open and non-judgmental to all views, should not label him as an extremist and heartless just for expressing his beliefs.
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1 week ago | 
timesofmalta.com | Mark Laurence Zammit
Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech has expressed relief at not being elected pope, saying he “returned home a free man” after this month’s conclave. Grech dismissed the assumption that all cardinals aspire to the papacy, calling it a misunderstanding of the role’s immense burdens. And it is not just him, he said.
