News from the Church in Malta
May your visit among us and your blessing upon us instil in the heart of each and every one of us that warmth of charity and that unusual kindness that are among the best fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Part of the thanksgiving speech by Archbishop Charles Scicluna
On the 2nd and 3rd April 2022, Pope Francis visited Malta and Gozo for the first time… Read more »
Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord
Readings of the day
First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm: 21(22):8-9,17-18a,19-20,23-24
Second Reading: Philipppians 2:6-11
Gospel: Matthew 26:14 – 27:66
I
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over… Read more »
Pope Francis was in hospital on Wednesday afternoon for a “previously scheduled check-up,” the Vatican said.
“The Holy Father has been at Gemelli (Hospital) since this afternoon for some previously scheduled checks,” Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said in a one-sentence statement.
In a later update, the Vatican said Pope Francis has “a respiratory infection that requires some days of appropriate medical therapy in hospital.”
This was shown by tests carried out on him this afternoon at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome… Read more »
The Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples of the Holy See has appointed Fr Victor Agius as the new director of MISSIO Malta for the next five years (2023‑2028).
MISSIO aims to help the Pope in spreading the missionary spirit among priests, religious, adults and children and encourages supporting the poor through financial aid for projects in Third World countries. MISSIO also takes care of spreading the Word of God in countries that have never been evangelised… Read more »
In recent months, the Province of Capuchin Friars passed on the responsibility for the pastoral work carried out at Mater Dei Hospital to the Archdiocese of Malta. Archbishop Charles Scicluna appointed a team of priests to continue providing 24‑hour pastoral support from Monday to Sunday at the hospital. The Chaplaincy team now consists of Fr Louis Farrugia, Fr Reuben Vella and Fr Reuben Deguara, as well as Fr René Camilleri as coordinator of this work… Read more »
Fr Luke Cutajar has been appointed as the new parish priest for the Parish of St Anne in Marsascala, the same parish in which he has served as vice-parish priest for 7 years.
Fr Luke was born in Siġġiewi in 1988 and raised in Rabat, receiving his primary and secondary education at Stella Maris College, Gżira, before entering De La Salle College for Sixth Form… Read more »
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Readings of the day
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalm: 129 (130):1-2,3-4ab,4c-6,7-8
Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11
Gospel: John 11:1-45
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill… Read more »
“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Jesus poses this question to Martha, sister to Lazarus and Mary, three of Jesus’s closest friends. The Gospel we have just heard today clearly shows that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus very much.
At the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus receives bad news about Lazarus’s health: “Lord, your friend is sick.”(John 11:3)… Read more »
The Archdiocese of Malta has decided that from next month clergy will receive funeral processions at the church door, where a blessing will take place before the Mass, instead of accompanying corteges from the morgue to the funeral service.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese said: “The bishops have taken this difficult decision, after consultation with parish priests, due to the declining number of clergy in parishes, increasingly lengthy travel times and a long-felt need for priests to be present in church before the funeral service takes place to console relatives and friends as well as hear confessions.”
Priests will continue to be available when loved ones pass away, either in a residence or in hospital, and will also continue to take part in the procession from the church to the cemetery where burial takes place… Read more »
The Fourth Sunday of Lent
Readings of the day
First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1b,6-7,10-13a
Psalm: 22 (23):1-3a,3b-4,5,6
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel: John 9:1-41
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him… Read more »
