To follow up on Pope Francis’ visit to Malta, the Archdiocese of Malta is launching a project titled: rethink.mt: Rethink culture.

rethink.mt is a space for respectful dialogue on complex issues shaping Maltese culture. Supported by the Vicariate for Evangelisation and hosted by Justice & Peace –Malta, discussions will take place with various people active in Maltese society about the kind of culture we are hoping to build together.

Every time we disregard our roots and forget where we’re coming from, we are impoverished. Our identity is in danger and we risk falling prey to new forms of ideological colonization. At the same time, an over-emphasis on roots, memory and identity can lead us to the kind of nostalgic ideologies which exclude the “other” and leave us stuck in the past.

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). Where are we failing in this respect? And where can we glimpse signs of hope of a future which creatively preserves the memory of the past?

Supporting articles: