This coming Sunday, 18 October 2026, the public is invited to visit the Archbishop’s Curia in Floriana as part of the Ġenna ta’ Ġonna event.
Visitors will learn why, in 1743, the Jesuits felt the need to dedicate this building to Our Lady of Manresa, and how over the years it has helped the Church’s pastoral mission. Casa Manresa, originally built as a retreat house, also served as a military hospital, a seminary, a boys’ school and, briefly during the Second World War, even as a Law Court. The documentary ‘Ismi, Manresa’ (My name is Manresa) will explain the different faces this building has had over time.
The unique Refectory hall, a room surrounded by the art of the Sicilian painter Pasquale Leonetti, will also be open so that people can admire paintings showing biblical episodes that mention food, accompanied by the Scripture quotations that inspired them. This cycle reaches its climax in the scene of St Paul’s arrival on the island, where he is welcomed by Publius, as well as in the Triumph of the Lamb of God, found on the opposite side of the hall.
The public is also invited to take part in the Mass led by Archbishop Charles Scicluna in the Curia chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Manresa at 9:30am, and in a second Mass led by Bishop Joseph Galea-Curmi at 12pm.
The crypt, an integral part of the Chapel of Our Lady of Manresa, will also be open. The Jesuit Pier Francesco Rosignoli founded the retreat house so that one could prepare for “la buona morte” (a good death), inspired by the spirituality of St Ignatius. Here, the retreatants would reflect on the Four Last Things, and priests would offer Mass for the souls in Purgatory. The crypt is simple, with a stone altar, and is part of an underground complex that includes the kitchen, storeroom and laundry room.
The main corridors of the Archbishop’s Curia will be decorated with more than 25 paintings by the artist Francesco Zahra, considered the most important Maltese artist of the mid-eighteenth century. When Casa Manresa was built, Francesco Zahra was commissioned to produce a set of paintings so that art would aid the spiritual renewal of the people who came to meditate in this retreat house.
The sacristy, part of the Casa Manresa Chapel, is built in a Baroque style attributed to Andrea Belli and has recently been restored. Among other things, it contains a painting of St John the Baptist by Mattia Preti.
During the open day, two thrones linked to historic papal visits to Malta will also be exhibited. The first was used by Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa on 26 May 1990. The second belonged to Pope Francis when he met President George Vella on 3 April 2022.
The Archbishop’s Curia will be open from 9am to 5pm.
Admission is free. Donations in support of the Archdiocese’s work are appreciated.
