The 450th anniversary of the death of St Pius V, the Dominican pope who was one of the foremost leaders of the Catholic Reformation and supported the Knights of St John in their plans to build the city of Valletta, will be marked by the Dominican community in Malta with a concelebrated Mass led by Archbishop Emeritus of Tiranë- Durrës, Albania, George Frendo, at St Dominic church, Valletta, on Thursday, at 6.15pm.

Pope St Pius V was born Antonio Ghislieri on January 17, 1504, in Bosco, Duchy of Milan.

In 1518, he entered the Dominican Order, taking the name Michele and was ordained a priest in 1528.

He rose in the Roman Catholic hierarchy becoming Bishop of Sutri and Nepi (1556-1557), Cardinal of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (1557-1561), Cardinal of Santa Sabina (1561-1566) and secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition (1564-1566) before being elected pope in 1566.

During the papacy of Pope Pius V, Malta was governed by the knights of St John. After the defeat of the church in the crusades, Malta became an advanced defence position in the central Mediterranean against the Mohammedan ships. Pope Pius V was instrumental in developing the city of Valletta to reinforce this defensive position.

As a sign of respect, the Maltese people made a bronze bust of Pope Pius V by Giuseppe Valenti and placed it atop the back side of City Gate. It was inaugurated on July 24, 1892.

By the 1960s, King’s Gate was regarded too small to cope with the influx of people entering Valletta. When the gate was pulled down, the bronze bust of Pius V was removed and left abandoned for more than 25 years.

After the bust had been lying hidden in the office of the Valletta Local Council for some time, the government had commissioned two cold-dip-bronze fibre copies, one of which was kept in storage and the other erected on the main doorway of the parish church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo and St Dominic in Merchant Street.

The council committed itself to finding the best place to erect a column on which the other replica of this historic monument would stand for public viewing.

In fact, the bust was placed steps away from the entrance of St John’s Cathedral, overlooking Great Siege Square.

Pope Pius V died on May 1, 1572. He was beatified on May 1, 1672 by Pope Clement X and was canonised on May 22, 1712 by Pope Clement XI.