Philanthropist

Born in Valletta, Adelaide, the youngest of 13 children was born to Michael and Carmela Galea, and was baptised at the parish church of Porto Salvo, Valletta.  Early in her life she felt the urge of a religious vocation. Cini desired to enter the monastery of St Catherine in Valletta but the prioress decided that Cini’s real vocation lay in the world outside the convent.

Cini was inspired to attempt the reform of a Sicilian prostitute who, through her efforts, joined the Good Shepherd sisterhood and, in later years, became the mother superior of a convent in Alexandria. This first success showed her the path to her life’s vocation. She was helped financially by John Asphar and his wife Angelica Bonavia.

By that time  her family moved to Ħamrun and Cini bought a house for orphaned children and founded the institute ‘Conservatorio Cini’ at Santa Venera which in 1876 started being run by the Sisters of Charity. She led a holy exemplary life dedicated to the needs of young girls and unmarried mothers.

Cini died at the age of 46, leaving an indelible mark in the social and religious history of Malta. She was declared venerable by Pope Pius X on 23 February 1910. On 15 October 1919 her remains were exhumed and re-buried in the new chapel of the Institute built by Mary Zammit and consecrated by Bishop Maurus Caruana.

On 16 October 2019, Archbishop Charles J. Scucluna reopened the case for the Beatification of Adelaide Cini. He led a mass 100 years from the exhumation of her body at the Addolorata Cemetery before it was transported to the Cini Institute, where she is still buried. In his homily, the Archbishop announced that Dr Giovanni Brizzi will be the postulator responsible for promoting and defending the cause for beatification before the Holy See.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.