Pope Francis and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meet at the Vatican, despite calls from academics for the pontiff to cancel the event (AFP Photo/Handout) |
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis held a private audience with outgoing Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Saturday, despite a plea to cancel the meeting over a scandal-hit investigation into the murder of a journalist.
The
Argentine pontiff met Muscat and his family for an event the Vatican said had
been scheduled months ago.
Muscat said
Sunday he will step down in January after mass protests over a much-criticised
probe into the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia,
which has also led to the resignations of his chief of staff and tourism
minister.
Twenty-two
Maltese academics sent the pope a letter, dated before Muscat's decision to
step down, asking Francis to cancel a meeting they slammed as a
"propaganda exercise" for the prime minister.
They said
it would be "totally unwise, and pastorally undesirable" for the
audience at the Vatican to take place, "given the serious and grave nature
of the accusations and allegations which are plaguing" the government in
Valletta.
Caruana
Galizia, a mother of three described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", was
blown up in a car bomb attack near her home in October 2017.
The
reporter had become known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within the country's
political and business elite, including among Muscat's inner circle.
Francis
joined the cries of outrage across the globe over her slaying, sending a rare
formal note of condolences, which are usually reserved for the deaths of
prominent world leaders rather than private citizens.
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.