An official publication commemorating Pope Francis’s Apostolic Journey to Malta through a series of evocative photographs and text has been launched by Archbishop Charles Scicluna.
Published by Beacon Media – the Church media group that owns Newsbook, 103 Malta’s Heart and Media Centre – the 168-page book entitled Luminous Kindness also features all the speeches and prayers made during the Pope’s visit to a number of locations in Malta and Gozo, on April 2 and 3.
Speaking at the book launch held at the Archbishop’s Palace in Mdina, Archbishop Scicluna, who wrote the foreword, said: “While nothing can emulate the joy we experienced during the Pope’s time with us, Luminous Kindness seeks to rekindle the profound messages and fond memories gifted to us by the Holy Father. It is a beautiful and comprehensive memento of the visit”.
The publication’s title was chosen to reflect the Pontiff’s description of Malta as a “luminous land” committed to welcoming people, while also incorporating the main theme of the visit: “They showed us unusual kindness” – the words used by St Luke in the Acts of the Apostles to describe the welcome St Paul and the 275 men received when they were shipwrecked on the island 2,000 years ago.
QR codes enabling readers to link to video and Maltese translations of each event have also been included in the book together with features on Malta’s major religious landmarks.
Luminous Kindness was edited by Steve Mallia together with Ariadne Massa and designer Ramon Micallef. Ian Noel Pace, Miguela Xuereb, Rene Rossignaud, Daniel Cilia, Darrin Zammit Lupi, Andrew Formosa, Tonio Schembri, the Department of Information (DOI) and Vatican Media contributed photography.
Beacon Media is grateful for the support of the publication’s sponsors: the Malta Tourism Authority, Virtu Ferries and APS Bank.
Luminous Kindness, a coffee-table-sized publication, is available both hardback and paperback at €50 and €30 respectively. Copies are available from store.newsbook.com.mt or tel. 25699100.
