Labour’s Jason Micallef beats retreat from face-off with right-wing cleric

The Labour TV boss and Valletta Cultural Agency chairman Jason Micallef appeared to beat a lowly retreat together with his dog, after throwing down the gauntlet on Wednesday night to face off a Catholic priest at an alleged ‘thanksgiving’ mass on Malta’s FATF greylisting.

Micallef, no stranger to social media beefs and online feuds with any critic of the Labour admnistration, had pledged to confront Mosta priest and right-wing provocateur David Muscat at the Mosta Speranza chapel on Thursday morning after the cleric praised God for Malta’s grey-listing.

“Greylisted – Glory glory Alleluia!” Muscat wrote on Facebook after the Financial Action Task Force’s decision was announced. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll sing a solemn hymn of ‘Te Deum Laudamus’ to thank Holy God. A time will be announced later.”

Muscat has previously dubbed the industries of gaming and financial services as “the Judaic economy”… a fascist reference to the stereotype of Jews and financial wealth.

But on the day of the confrontation, Micallef, out walking his dog, could be seen watching over the proceedings of Fr David, before concluding that the priest was not celebrating mass but only serving the morning rosary, apparently an excuse for him to continue about his day.

“I have every right to express my view about a priest who said this mass, which it is not after all, would be a thanksgiving for Malta’s FATF greylisting. I think these Catholic worshippers, who might not see this priest on social media, should know this was a mass ‘against our own country’. You can’t make up these things,” Micallef said.

“I won’t stay telling them this priest has actually boasted of watching porn at night… but his statements celebrating Malta greylisting have shocked the majority of Maltese. It’s unacceptable.”