On Sunday 4th March 2012, Archbishop Paul Cremona O.P. lit the Benedictine Torch for Peace during a Eucharisitc Celebration at St John’s CoCathedral in Valletta. Archbishop Paul Cremona celebrated Mass together with Mgr Pietro Vittorelli, Archabbot of Montecassino Abbey, and Mgr Renato Boccardo, Archbishop of Spoleto, Norcia. The Mass was animated by the Benedictine Choir of Monte Cassino. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, a medieval re-enactment of the historical Terra Sancti Benedicti procession was held outside St. John’s Co-Cathedral.
On March 14th, the Torch will be taken to the Vatican to be blessed by Pope Benedict XVI, and will then be taken to the Shrine of St Benedict in Monte Cassino on March 20th. In 1964, when Saint Benedict was proclaimed Patron Saint of Europe by Pope Paul VI, it was decided that the lighting of a torch would take place annually in various countries.
Click on the photos to enlarge. The photos of the Archbishop’s events may be purchased from PHOTOCITY, Valletta. Tel: 21236723. Email: [email protected]