The current model of development has caused environmental problems, social inequality, and economic instability. It is suggested that a new, more sustainable and inclusive model of development should be adopted which takes into account the needs of the poor and the environment.
We speak about the urgent need to shift towards a more sustainable economic and social model. We also mention the responsibility of politicians to truly practice what they preach and about the links between social justice, environmental degradation and political participation.
With Fr Nicholas Doublet, lecturer in Church history at the University of Malta and Dr Karsten Xuereb, researcher in cultural relations with a focus on the Mediterranean, we speak about Malta’s calling to be a “laboratory of organic development” (Pope Francis).
When discussing cultural heritage, the emphasis should not be on the burden of preservation as such, but on the opportunity to renew, to rethink one’s vocation and to recompose it in the current socio-cultural context and to dream for a better future.
In Christianity we learn that a central expression of faith is remembrance. As Pope Francis told us in his visit to Malta this year, we need to remember how to be kind, also to our land.