Suspendid a divinis

Carolus, the son of Mariano was born in Luqa. He was brother of Rev Cusmanus and nephew of Dominican Friar Damianus Taliana*. He received the clerical tonsure from Bishop Royas de Portalrubio. During Mgr Dusina’s Visit he was still a cleric and though he could read and understand the Latin he read, he was still unable to write.

Between 1576 and 1590 he obtained a good number of benefices. On 23 September 1580 he was granted the permission to go to Messina to proceed with his literary studies. Before his ordination, on 6 April 1585, which took place abroad  he was granted a legacy.

On 9 June 1586, Rev Taliana requested Bishop Gargallo to appoint him Supernumerary Canon of the Cathedral, the Cathedral Chapter found no objection to his honorary title, and his request was granted two days later.  Almost a month later, on 4 July 1586 Bishop Gargallo appointed him Curate and Co-adjutor at Żejtun, as its Parish priest was rather old.  When Bishop Gargallo decided to establish a new parochial entity comprising the villages of Kirkop, Mqabba and Safi, decreeing their dismemberment from Bir Miftuħ, Kirkop was chosen as its seat. He moreover appointed Rev Taliana its first Parish Priest on 16 May 1592.

In 1595 Carolus Taliana was denounced before the inquisitor’s Tribunal and it was thought prudent to keep a watching eye on his behaviour. On 8 December of that year, the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office in Rome ordered the Inquisitor to proceed against him while his uncle, Friar Damianus Taliana O.P., had to refrain from intervening in this matter.

On 26 March 1596, the same Congregarion decreed that he was to be suspended a dvinis and ab omni officio ecclesiastico for a year during which he was unable to fulfill the duties annexed to his office as parish priest. Throughout  this year, he was to dedicate his attention exclusively to studies. Needless to say, notwithstanding this sentence Taliana still retained his status as parish priest.

It is indeed embarrassing to  note, that Rev Taliana was almost all the time absent from his parish. The sexton of Kirkop’s parish, in 1598 stated that he had been carrying those duties at Kirkop since the previous four years, and he had to seek the help of other priests outside the parish to administer the sacraments.  Carolus Taliana continued to reside at Gudja, and it was common knowledge that he frequented a woman from Valletta who came to him at his residence.

Late in 1599, he was detained in the Bishop’s jail. However on 8 December 1599, Dr Giovanni Mangion certified that Taliana was suffering from bad fever and had to be relieved from his prison. By the 16th of that month he had been in jail for twenty days.

By 1600, he had returned to Kirkop. Together with Francesco Xiricha, procurator of the parish church, he had been successful in obtaining from Naples a silver monstrance for the parish church.

During the 1618 Pastoral Visit, Rev Carolus Taliana cut a very poor figure. His library consisted only of three books: a Summa, the Conciones Concilii and the Roman Cathechism. Bishop Cagliares held that these were insufficient tools for a parish priest to keep abrest with his duties. The bishop ordered him to acquire a copy of the Bible, the Divine Office and others.  Moreover his behaviour left much to be desired.  He was a public drunkard and was to be seen in many taverns. There and then Bishop Cagliares decreed his suspension which deprived him not only from the care of souls and the administration of the Sacraments as parish priest but also from his normal priestly ministry. The bishop seriously admonished him that if he din not cease from frequenting taverns, he would eventually, be deprived also from the ecclesiastical benefices. Bishop Cagliares, then, entrusted the care of the Kirkop parish to Rev. Lucas Schembri, nominating him Vicar Curate entitled him to retain for himself all dues derived from the administration of the Sacraments.

Carolus Taliana died more than ten years later on 3 February 1629.

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