President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca urged people to take notice of the suffering around them in a final Christmas message peppered with gratitude to the Maltese people.
Ms Coleiro Preca, whose term ends next year, thanked people for their openness and support, as well as for understanding her limitations as a President and a person.
“Thank you for opening up about the suffering you’ve felt,” she said, “suffering that we may have caused ourselves by pretending we hadn’t heard the woman next door screaming because her partner was beating her, or by not asking why that elderly lady hadn’t appeared at her window for a week, or by pretending we’re not aware that tonight many will be asleep on a pavement, in a car or garage. Or when we ignored the little girl who never made it here because she died at sea.”
The President recalled the work done on mental illness, and pledged to continue working for better services in the community, which she said were still lacking.
She also called for a national campaign against violence against children, saying she had been saddened by how many children had mentioned this as a concern.
Among other social concerns, she called on people to make a…
