The Holy See’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has informed the Archdiocese of Malta that it has suppressed St Peter’s Monastery in Mdina and assigned Dom Jeremias Schröder, OSB, Abbot Primate of the Order of Saint Benedict, to assume control of all administrative matters related to the property.

The Holy See’s decision was taken after it came to light that the monastery’s sole occupant, a Benedictine nun, had unilaterally signed, without authorisation, two 50-year leases on the property to private individuals – each for a fee of less than €2,000 per month.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna made several attempts to resolve the situation, but these were rebuffed by the nun, leaving the Archdiocese, as authorised administrator, with no choice but to inform the Holy See – which has now stepped in to safeguard the status and integrity of the monastery.

The Dicastery stated in its letter: “No solution remains other than to suppress the said monastery. This Dicastery has already asked (the nun) to undertake the necessary steps for this purpose, so that the requirements of the case may be completed within the year 2026.”

The Holy See has also determined that the nun will be transferred to another Benedictine Monastery.

The administration of ecclesiastical entities, encompassing four monasteries including St Peter’s, had been centralised in the 1980s by decrees issued by then Archbishop Joseph Mercieca. The property has since been administered by the Archbishop’s Curia, which provided a monthly subvention of €4,000 for recurrent expenditure, in addition to covering salaries and one-off expenses.

As a result, any occupants were required to seek authorisation from the administrator before assigning any part of the monastery or any property associated with it. Not only did the nun fail in this duty, but she also withheld information about the contracts she had signed.

In its letter to the Archdiocese, the Dicastery stated the following:

“With regard to the leasing of the properties belonging to the monastery of Mdina, the respective contracts are invalid, not because of the loss of autonomy of the said monastery, but due to non-observance of the regime of canonical authorisations (cf. canons 634–640; 1290–1297 of the Code of Canon Law). In fact, the authorisation of the local Ordinary is lacking, as well as the licence of the Holy See required by virtue of the Statute of 6 July 1988 concerning the Ecclesiastical Province of Malta.”

All administrative matters concerning the monastery have now passed from the Archdiocese to Dom Jeremias Schröder, OSB, Abbot Primate of the Order of Saint Benedict, who will oversee the property and its administration.