1913 International Eucharistic Congress organised in Malta

On Easter Sunday, 1912, Archbishop of Malta Mgr Pietro Pace announced that the 24th International Eucharistic Congress was to be held in Malta in 1913. This event was Mgr Pace’s baby, so to say, and he had worked tirelessly to have it organised in his diocese, assisted by Cardinal Bourne, the French Archbishop of Westminster, and Mgr Thomas Heylen, the Bishop of Namur in Belgium and president of the permanent committee that organised the Eucharistic congresses.

The first congress had been held in Lille, France, in 1881, and continued to be held in different localities. These congresses brought together cardinals, bishops and experts with the aim of increasing devotion to the Holy Eucharist. To demonstrate his appreciation and solidarity with these meetings, the pope used to send his representative, or legate, to attend.

The executive committee of the International Eucharistic Congress of 1913. Photo: Richard Ellis

Preparations for the Malta congress started in May 1912 with the formation of a general committee, but the main burden of the organisational work fell on the Auxiliary Bishop of Malta, the Dominican Mgr Angelo Portelli, who presided over an executive committee of 13 members. These committees were also helped by sub-committees in charge of protocol, ceremonials and processions, and the accommodation of the participants in the congress who came from overseas.

The two main committees did not always see eye to eye, especially with regard to financial matters, but Archbishop Pace’s intervention ensured that the executive committee got its way. A member of the executive committee was instructed to liaise with the superintendent of police to ensure that works on stands, and so forth, would conform with the law.

The tomb of Archbishop Pietro Pace at the Mdina Cathedral. He worked hard to ensure that the 24th International Eucharistic Congress was held in Malta.

In September 1912, the executive committee entrusted Mgr F. Ferris, Colonel L. Manchè and Dr A. Bartolo to prepare the vademecum, a guide for the participants of the congress, which was printed in English, Italian and French. A commemorative medal was struck in Milan, Italy, and given to all the participants.

A beautiful chalice was bought (for £210) from the heirs of the estate of the late Mgr Casolani, titular Bishop of Mauricastro, to be presented to the papal legate. Fund collection was entrusted to the parish priests and the press, and the estimated sum needed, about £3,000, was collected, helped also by the fact that the Cathedral Chapter defrayed the expenses connected with the decoration of the two cathedrals.

Auxiliary Bishop Mgr Angelo Portelli, who shouldered most of the work connected with the organisation of the 1913 Eucharistic congress.

One of the problems concerned accommodating the estimated 10,000 congress members expected to attend. Actually, only 2,000 turned up and the planned accommodation was sufficient. Another problem was the illness of Pope Pius X, but fortunately his health improved and the congress could proceed as planned. Decorations were set up at Valletta – at the Main Guard in St George’s Square, the Royal Theatre and Valletta’s main entrance – that included paintings by Giuseppe Calì.

The decoration of St John’s Co-Cathedral was reckoned the most beautiful and included the use of electricity – a novelty in those days – and two other Calì paintings depicting the Holy Eucharist. The main entrance sported a banner with appropriate wording, and the two niches flanking the doorway included two angels, one holding the Holy Eucharist and the other a chalice.

Cardinal Domenico Ferrata, the papal legate to the 1913 Eucharistic congress.

Outside Valletta, stands were installed so that congress participants were able to view the arrival of Cardinal Ferrata and the principal procession. At the entrance of The Mall, a canopy over four columns was erected on a raised dais – reached through two flights of steps – which housed an altar whose silver frontage was borrowed from the Valletta parish of St Paul Shipwrecked.

After discarding the use of open-air football grounds in favour of the very large Mosta rotunda, the people of Mosta took care to decorate their village and church themselves. The street leading to the church was ‘roofed over’ by greenery and palm fronds, and poles flanking the road were decorated with the coats of arms of the cardinals, the bishops and their countries of origin, together with verses from Laudate Sion and Pange Lingua.

The medal depicting The Last Supper struck to commemorate the 1913 Eucharistic Congress.

Archbishop Pace insisted that the Maltese would be prepared spiritually for the congress. A prayer for the spiritual success of the congress was published, spiritual talks were held, and an appropriate hymn – T’adoriam Ostia Divina (Nadurawk ja Ħobż tas-Sema) by Dun Karm Psaila, set to music by Giuseppe Caruana – was composed for the occasion and is still sung nowadays. An appropriate pastoral letter for the occasion was issued on Easter Sunday.

On the eve of the opening of the congress, on April 23, Cardinal Ferrata was ferried from Syracuse to Malta on HMS Hussar, courtesy of the British Royal Navy. He was accorded a rousing welcome, including a 21-gun salute, before being greeted at Customs Steps by Bishop Portelli and the Crown Advocate General Sir Victor Frendo Azzopardi.

Decorations at Valletta’s entrance set up for the Eucharistic congress of 1913. Photo: Richard Ellis

HMS Hussar transported Cardinl Ferrata from Syracuse to Malta, courtesy of the British Royal Navy.

Greetings from local dignitaries followed before being transferred to Sarria church in Floriana where Archbishop Pace and other dignitaries awaited him. Cardinal Ferrata was then escorted to Valletta under a baldacchino, with the route to the Archbishop’s Palace in Valletta via St John’s Co-Cathedral thronged with people and band clubs playing festive music at various points. The congress’s important participants – cardinals, bishops, abbots and so forth – were accommodated at various places including Valletta, Sliema, Birkirkara, Ħamrun, Senglea, Mdina, Tarxien and Floriana.

There was immense participation by the Maltese faithful in all the congress’s events

Wednesday, April 23: The first day of the congress started with a Eucharistic service at the Jesuits’ church, Valletta. The programme shifted to the Mosta rotunda where the congress was declared officially open and was followed by appropriate speeches by Cardinal Ferrata, Bishop Portelli, Marquis Mattei and Mgr Emard, Bishop of Valleyfield, Canada, before the closing words by the Jesuit Fr Sammut. The evening was devoted to meetings by different language groupings and a night vigil.

Decorations near Sarria church, Floriana. The painting is preserved at the Catholic Institute, Floriana. Photo: Richard Ellis

Thursday, April 24: Pontifical masses were celebrated at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, as well as in Senglea and Birkirkara, but the most important event was Holy Communion for children at St Publius church, Floriana, followed by a procession in which thousands of children took part.

This day also saw the arrival of the Spanish contingent led by Cardinal Alvarez y Santos, as well as of Cardinal Bourne and the Duke of Norfolk, the highest-ranking secular taking part in the congress. A second general meeting took place in Mosta that started at 3.30pm and included speeches by Dr Galea, Rev Prof. Anastasio Cuschieri and Canon Leynard from Tunisia. A night vigil then followed.

Pontifical high mass at the Mdina Cathedral was followed by a Eucharistic procession in the streets of Mdina.

Friday, April 25: A procession from St Augustine church in Rabat heralded a pontifical high mass, led by the papal legate Cardinal Domenico Ferrata, at 10.30am, which was followed by a procession in the streets of Mdina. After lunch, a third general meeting was held at the Mosta rotunda where the speakers were Cardinal Bourne, Dr Arturo Mercieca, Fr Gemelli and Dr Felice Inglott. After the speeches, the meeting adjourned for the final session on the next day.

Saturday, April 26: In the morning, pontifical masses were celebrated in various localities, followed by the final general meeting at the Mosta rotunda where the speakers were the Jesuit Fr Leanza, the Gozitan Mgr Farrugia and Magistrate Cremona, also from Gozo. The proceedings were concluded by Cardinal Ferrata. At around 5pm, a procession that included the Valletta Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, accompanied Cardinal Ferrata to the Upper Barrakka where the ceremony of the Blessing of the Sea took place. A night vigil concluded the proceedings.

The ‘Blessing of the Sea’ ceremony from the Upper Barrakka on the penultimate day of the congress.

Sunday, April 27: The day started with pontifical mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral, followed, in the late afternoon, by a grand procession to Floriana, which took hours to wend its way. A Eucharistic benediction brought proceedings to a close.

There was immense participation by the Maltese faithful in all of the congress’s events, as also noted by the VIPs who took part.

The bronze statue of Antonio Sciortino’s Christ the King in Floriana was inaugurated in December 1917 as a memorial of the 1913 Eucharistic congress held in Malta. Photo: Richard Ellis

Gozo was not forgotten, and the papal legate visited the sister island on Tuesday, April 29, a visit where the programme of events included the reopening of Santa Savina church, embellished and enlarged for the occasion.

A statue of Christ the King, the work of renowned Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino, was inaugurated on December 30, 1917, to serve as a memorial of the 24th International Eucharistic Congress held at Malta in April 1913.