Beatification process to start

The beatification process of Bishop Emanuel Galea will start at the end of a concelebrated Mass to be held at St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta on Tuesday, feast day of St John the Baptist, the Curia said yesterday.

The concelebration, which starts at 6 p.m., will be led by the Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca. The beatification process will start with the nomination of the people who will be in charge in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal to look into the case.

Born in Senglea on March 10, 1891, Mgr Galea was educated at the University of Malta and ordained on December 18, 1915.

He gained his PhD from the Gregorian University in Rome. In 1930, he was appointed professor of Canon Law at the University of Malta and in 1940 was made Vicar General. On June 9, 1942, during the Second World War, he was nominated titular bishop of Tralles and auxiliary bishop to the bishop of Malta.

Mgr Galea died on August 21, 1974.