Funeral held for Malta journalist; some officials stay away
VALLETTA, Malta — Malta’s Roman Catholic archbishop warned those who killed an investigative reporter with a car bomb that they “would never escape the justice of God” and urged other journalists Friday to pursue the truth without fear.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna celebrated Daphne Caruana Galizia’s funeral Mass in the church nearest to where the 53-year-old Malta native lived before the bomb exploded as she drove away from home on Oct. 16. More than 1,500 mourners packed the venue and several hundred more spilled out into the square outside.
Mourners included her husband, three adult sons and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, while top Maltese government and opposition figures stayed away in deference to the wishes of Caruana Galizia’s family.
The family has been vocal in its criticism of the government for its failure to root out the kind of corruption that Caruana Galizia covered in her blog, which was a must-read in the small Mediterranean island nation.