LM1,200 FOR THE MALTA COMMUNITY CHEST FUND FROM THE MALTESE COMMUNITY IN ITALY

LM1,200 FOR THE MALTA COMMUNITY CHEST FUND FROM THE MALTESE COMMUNITY IN ITALY

H.E. Prof. Guido de Marco, President of Malta, this morning was presented with a cheque amounting to over Lm1,200 by H.E. Dr Joseph Cassar, Ambassador of Malta to Italy, in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund.

The money was raised during a Maltese festa-party, organised by the Embassy of Malta in Rome, for the Maltese Community in Italy, on 28^th June 2000 on the occasion of the feast of Mnarja.

The celebration commenced with the participation of some 250 members of the Maltese Community in a General Audience granted by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. The festa-party was held in the gardens of the convent of the nuns of St Joseph of the Apparition and was preceded by a Mass in Maltese at the Convent Chapel. Around 500 members of the Maltese Community attended the reception and were treated to traditional Maltese food cooked by the Maltese Franciscan nuns of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

A lottery held during the activity raised Italian Lire 6,029,000 in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Speaking at this morning's presentation, the President said this donation was "a living testimony of the Maltese Community's sense of belongingness to Malta, that sense of feeling Maltese wherever you are in the world."

"Wherever in the world there is a Maltese, there is a piece of Malta," the President said. Prof. de Marco also spoke about the strong continuity in the history of the Maltese Community in Italy, which has existed for centuries.

The Ambassador was accompanied by Councillor Ms Vanessa Grima Baldacchino and Ms Alida Pagnelli.