H.H. Pope John Paul II visited Malta for the second time in May 2001. It was a most special occasion for such a staunch Catholic country, and great preparations were made for the papal visit.

The Pope had visited Malta once more eleven years before, in 1990, in what was then the first visit of a reigning Pontiff to Malta, a country that had been introduced to the Christian faith by St Paul himself, "the prisoner Apostle". Back there, Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl was inexistent, and no-one and no organisation took the initative to make a plea so that the prisons be included into the Pope's itinerary. Pope John Paul II had visited prisons very often during his pastoral visits to various countries around the world.

In 2001, Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl wanted to make an important point. Christianity was introduced to Malta by a prisoner, St Paul. So why leave the prisoners out of the itinerary of Peter's successor in "St Paul's island"?

To this effect, from the beginning of February 2001, immediately after the papal visit was announced, Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl began a national campaign to collect thousands of petitions asking the Pope to visit the prisons while in Malta. The campaign continued unabated throughout the following months. Between 8,000 and 9,000 petitions were collected and sent to the Apostolic Nuntio in Malta. Expectations were high.

The Pope, however, or rather the organizers, did not concede to this ardent desire. During his packed two-day visit in May, on the 8th and 9th, 2001, the Pope visited various places related to the Church in Malta and, particularly, with St Paul's memory. Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl had submitted plausible ways of how the Pope could have visited the prisons without spending too much time, or even without descending the papal mobile car.

To no avail, however. The prisons were ultimately not included in the papal itinerary.

A meeting for all, prisoners excluded

Nothwithstanding, at the end of a solemn mass celebrated before half the population of Malta gathered at Floriana, Pope John Paul publicly mentioned Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl's desire that he visits the prisons. The following are the exact words of Pope John Paul II on this occasion:

Now, with particular warmth I greet the inmates of the Corradino Corrective Facility. I know that it was your great desire to have, together with your relatives and friends, a visit by the Pope in memory of Saint Paul, the prisoner Apostle. But this has not been possible. I embrace you all, spiritually, and I invoke upon you abundant divine graces. God bless you all!

An opportunity was lost.