Fr. Micallef said that around 70 people, around 80% of whom are Maltese, visit the soup kitchen every single day, shining a light on a largely invisible problem in Malta.

“I recently sat down with one of them who told me he used to go out at night, when no one was looking, to rummage in garbage bags for food. He’s not the only one either. Recently, a Maltese man came over and we convinced him to take a shower, shave and eat… afterwards he told us that he hadn’t eaten a meal like that in 25 years.”

The friar also recounted how a man had visited the kitchen to offer a donation but hesitate when Fr Micallef invited him to sit down next to a homeless man himself.

However, he ended up offering his own garage to the homeless man as accommodation, with the priest stating he must have felt “indescribable happiness”.

And while the vast majority of people seeking help are Maltese, Fr Micallef urged people not to judge by their nationality or the colour of their skin.

“It hurts me when people ask whether black people come to the kitchen, as though it would be the end of the world. The Pope recently told people not to ask him how many poor people there are or who they are because he’s scared such questions are nothing but a distraction to silence the voices of our conscience and our heart.”

“You should embrace people in poverty, not count them.”

Fr Micallef’s speech, as well as an intervention by former prisoner Louis Mallia, was part of the Fejn Hu Ħuk initiative by the St George Basilica parish church to raise awareness on practical proposals to live out acts of mercy. 

The initiative gained widespread media attention in recent days following the unveiling of a church painting in tribute to Lassana Cisse, an Ivorian national who was shot dead in 2019 in what is believed a racist killing. 

Cover Photo: Left: The inauguration of the Valletta Soup Kitchen (Photo: Church in Malta), Right: Stock Photo

Have you seen signs of homelessness in Malta recently?