Today, September 29, 2024, the Church in Malta commemorates the 50th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Mgr Joseph Mercieca, who died on March 21, 2016.

Born in Gozo in 1928, Mercieca was serving the Church as a judge of the Roman Rota when, in July 1974, Pope Paul VI set his eyes on him to become Archbishop Michael Gonzi’s new auxiliary bishop.

Mercieca was ordained bishop by Gonzi at St John’s Co-Cathedral on Sunday, September 29, 1974. Two years later, on December 12, 1976, he succeeded  Gonzi as archbishop.

The mounting challenges his leadership immediately started to face, particularly in Church-State relations, culminated in the Church schools and Church property crises of the 1980s.

During the crises, Mercieca had to bear, among so many other tensions, a massive spate of misinterpretation, provocation, vilification and hostility. Yet, he remained calm and stood his ground with all the human and spiritual dignity his pastoral leadership required of him for the ultimate common benefit of the Church and society.

Inspired by his motto, “We are all brethren in Christ”, Mercieca constantly advocated love and unity. He invariably preached, by word and deed, against division and all sorts of violence. Although violence was repeatedly used against him, he continued to advocate forgiveness, while denouncing every form of retaliation to provocation and hostility.

He firmly believed in calm and civil dialogue.

At the time of the schools’ crisis, there may have been people who would perhaps have preferred to see Mercieca responding or acting differently to certain harsh charges, abuses or stances. However, he used to suffer everything in silence because his aim was to diligently work for just and durable solutions for the good of all. 

His fine mind, spirit of self-sacrifice, sense of optimism and warm heart knew when to remain hushed, when to speak and what to say. It was through and as a direct result of his sage, realistic and forward-looking leadership that things did not escalate into some terribly grave twist in the country. When the sea used to be very rough, he knew how to unwearyingly wait until it calms down before making the next move. He never panicked.

His endurance and sacrifices were rewarded with the Church schools and property agreements reached in 1991.

“All along my Episcopal ministry, whatever happened, I continued to always pray God to keep helping me to continue to love, to be a voice striving for the best of the common good, to be an instrument that brings and sustains unity among our people, whatever the personal sacrifice this would require of me,” said Mercieca in January 26, 2007, at the end of his service as archbishop.

Mgr Joseph Mercieca used to suffer everything in silence- Charles Buttigieg

Mercieca proved himself to be a pastor who, throughout his 30 years at the helm of the archdiocese, was constantly a shining example of a wise, prudent, humble and gentle shepherd who invariably strived to be a true witness of Christ, promote evangelical values and be an instrument for fraternal unity.

As Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna said during his predecessor’s funeral mass in March 2016, Mercieca was “a pastor for all seasons” who showed great courage when he needed to do so even in front of violence and persecution, remaining a father to everyone, without exception. 

Mercieca proved very much to be the pastor the Church in Malta and our nation greatly needed at the time when Pope Paul VI chose him as the future archbishop.

He humbly shouldered his very heavy burdens with evangelical wisdom, patience and integrity, sustained by an immeasurable faith in God and a genuine love for one and all, deeply convinced that there is good in every human being.

Away from the Church schools and Church property impasses, as head of the Church in Malta, Mercieca piloted, among other initiatives, the setting up of the archdiocese’s various secretariats and commissions, the publication for the first time of the Church’s aggregated financial accounts and a Diocesan Synod.

The first official photograph of Archbishop Joseph Mercieca.

Furthermore, while consistently preaching the Gospel and the teachings of the Church according to the signs of the times, he also focused a lot on marriage and the family. Indeed, his defence of the family was a hallmark of his episcopate up to the very end of his pastoral mission.

Time and again, he encouraged social legislation and policy to support the durability of marriage and to protect always better the family and its unity. He was, in fact, an early promoter of social attitudes and measures that favour a true and valid balance between work and family in the life of Maltese parents.

During his January 18, 2007 thanksgiving mass at the end of his episcopate, Mercieca called upon society to understand and value the deep mystery of marriage between a man and a woman, further appealing for the promotion of marriages that prevail and to strive for steadfast families.

The highlight of Mercieca’s final years as head of the archdiocese was the unprecedented exercise of the 1999-2003 Diocesan Synod, which he envisaged as a time of renewal for the Church in Malta. 

Announcing the findings of the synod and the plans for their implementation, way back in 2003, Mercieca indicated what may be considered as the pastoral road map he wished to propose for the future of Church in Malta.

Mercieca saw the synod as an inspired encouragement to God’s people in Malta “to be a Church that always works with a spirit of service, which means that we must also work for a just society. It encourages us to work with a spirit of solidarity, giving special attention to those who have moved away from the Church, or who feel they are not accepted fully”.

After January 2007, when his service as head of the archdiocese came to an end, Mercieca had the opportunity to concentrate better on the pastoral work that was very close to his heart, primarily being close to the sick and the afflicted, for whom he always had a special love. He used to describe Id-Dar tal-Providenza as the apple of his eye (il-mimmi ta’ għajnejh).

In his own unassuming and humble way, Mercieca also continued to give true witness to his belief that whoever one may be, whatever one may have gone through in one’s life, God and Christ’s Church remain with their arms wide open to embrace one anew.

Charles Buttigieg is a former public relations officer at the Curia and a former refugee commissioner.