An island nation has a geographical and demographical advantage over other nations. Malta had this advantage and so did Great Britain, but sadly both nations have squandered this natural defense. Many tourists I have talked with this past week, Maltese who use to visit England, lament the fact that London is not English and that England is more and more just one international EU country among many.
This state of the diluting of a particular culture seems to be true of Ireland, and to me, Malta. In Eire, most of my friends are neither from North Ireland or Eire, but Polish, Asian, Scottish. In England, the majority of daily Mass goers in my parish, are either Filipino or African. At least at Mass in Malta, the vast majority of attenders are Maltese, of a certain age. Most of the African immigrants here are Muslim. That the Church is universal is part of Her Beauty and strength. Christendom was an attempt to have a united Christian national identity under agreements between monarchs. These failed.
But, I am lamenting the passing of English, Irish and, soon, Maltese cultures. There are few children to whom to pass on these distinctive cultures, and EU social engineering provides the atmosphere for nation-state suicide.
