Fr Joseph Diacono is best known as the founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. However, when one looks at all his works, one sees aspects about him of which little to nothing is known.

As a priest, and later as a parish priest, Diacono showed zeal in his demeanour as well as in his writings. Although his writings were mainly for philanthropic purposes, they contained a pastoral and spiritual touch throughout.

He was also endowed with natural artistic talents of design and scenography which led him to be involved in a number of ambitious projects. Diacono devised plans for the building and expansion of various churches, particularly those of Qala, St Lawrence, Għasri and Marsaxlokk.

Others include the churches of St Anthony of Padua at Għajnsielem and of Jesus of Nazareth at Xagħra, as well as the dome of the parish of the same village. He also planned the convent and church of the mother house of the Franciscan Sisters at Victoria.

He never accepted a penny for all this work. But the aspect that left most impact on people around him was his philanthropy in helping poor families, especially young girls and women who were considered ostracised by society at the time.

He boosted the role of women from that confined to housework to that of outward-looking, capable workers

Diacono was installed parish priest of Xagħra in August 1891 following a 10-year stint as parish priest of Qala. In Xagħra, Diacono saw a large and vast field in which he could plant the saplings that he had been nurturing in the spiritual and philanthropic nursery of his thoughts. He broadened his pastoral work by offering material aid and the means to lift the people entrusted to him from deprivation.

At Xagħra, Diacono founded a trade house at his own expense and from loans collected from individuals. He called this house the Casa Pia Industriale. The venture was unique in Gozo and neither were there parallels with similar entities in Malta.

His success in combining pastoral care with philanthropy made Diacono a charismatic figure and a pioneer with a vision that was not easily understood by his contemporaries.

The purpose of the house was to welcome girls from the age of five and above to learn religion and basic school subjects as well as crafts such as lace making, weaving, domestic work and hygiene.

His ultimate purpose was that, late in life, when they grow up, they would find a job as maids with well-to-do families in Malta, and be able to send money to their families. Similarly the income from the sale of lace and weaving products would go directly to their family.

The house was officially opened and blessed by the bishop of Gozo, John Mary Camilleri, on December 3, 1893. Diacono had been working on the house since 1892 when he took it on perpetual emphyteusis from the owner, Salvatore Sultana, and made the necessary internal structural changes to adapt the place for his aspirations.

The administration of the house was entrusted to a committee made up of five women, maestre. They bore the prefix La Decorata Sposa di Gesù (The Decorated Bride of Jesus).

They managed the house independently of Diacono, although he retained his rights as the owner of the property. The women acted as teachers in the school subjects as well as in crafts, aided by an assistant. They used the house as their residence, and the running of the house was based on a statute drawn up by Diacono himself. Both the teachers and the students attended the house dressed in uniforms.

The house widened its programme to include a number of cultural activities. It organised stage acting for the students for which parishioners flocked to attend.

Prize days were organised every June in the presence of the bishop for students who achieved the best results in school subjects and trades.

The house had an indoor stage for the winter months and a smaller one outdoors at the back for the summer days. Performances were also staged for the public, for which even people from outside the village would attend. The house even took its students to outings and pilgrimages to Ta’ Pinu sanctuary.

In 1897, the village band ‘La Vittoria’ was founded at the house; however, regrettably the band only lasted until 1903. The house also contained a generous library for the public use. Diacono even set up a literary circle under the name of ‘Vittoria’.

Although Diacono distanced himself from being involved directly in the administration of the house, the committee always turned to him in case of important decisions. Besides this, he always strove to find the markets for the works that were made by the students and the women. For this purpose he branched out of the house, which was the only selling point, and rented three shops at Victoria’s main square.

The house products were even exported to England and Canada where they gained high praise for their finesse and elegance. The designs of the lace models were made by Diacono himself. It is suffice for one to consider that in one year, 1896-97, the shops made a profit of £100, which was a substantial sum for Gozitan businesses at the time.

However, due to circumstances over which he had no control, including court suits opened against him regarding money he was owed in rents and loans, he was forced to close the shops for good. These and other such incidents ended up on the bishop’s desk as a result of reports he received about Diacono.

For his part, Diacono, who understood the sources of such reports, listened to the bishop’s instructions and acted accordingly as suggested to him. He did this in order to allow the house to keep on progressing and to refrain from being constrained to close its doors to the students and hence depriving their families of the much-needed income.

Following an official visit by the governor, Sir Wallace Francis Grenfell, in 1899, the house was granted a yearly allowance of £20 as an incentive.

After a couple of years, Diacono opened another house in Valletta at the building that housed the Society for Arts, Commerce and Manufacture. A number of people, including Maltese ladies and English residents, attended for weekly classes to learn lace making and other crafts. As was the case with the Gozo house, tuition was given for free except to those who had the means.

Diacono undertook all this activity in tandem with his pastoral care of the Xagħra parish. When one reads the minutes/diary of the house written by him together with the commissioned artistic works and honours he brought to the parish church, including those of the archpriest in 1893 and the collegiate in 1900, one remains in awe as to his ability in juggling all this work.

In 1908, Diacono was again the subject of reports to bishop Camilleri because of his philanthropic activity. This time round, the reports reportedly came from lace merchants who perceived Diacono as an annoyance every time he personally approached them because of their meagre payments to housewife lace workers and lack of appreciation for their lace work. This was in addition to reports from the clergy who protested that Diacono was more focused on the house rather than on the pastoral care of the villagers.

Diacono resigned from parish priest in 1908 on the instructions of the bishop and was replaced by the curator Can. Angelo Bajada, the dean of the Xagħra Chapter, who administered the parish till April 1909 when Fr Maurice Cauchi became the new parish priest.

Diacono moved to Victoria, but the Xagħra trade house carried on with its activities until 1917 when it transferred its administration to a new house in Victoria.

Diacono died on July 22, 1924, at his home. Some days before his passing away, Diacono was visited by his successor, Cauchi, together with Roman artist Virginio Monti, together with the young 18-year-old Espedito Tabone, later on a priest. Monti, on seeing Diacono in his last moments of life, said to Cauchi: “Your predecessor is dying the death of Fr John Bosco.”

On the day Diacono died, the Xagħra canons carried him to the parish church where he was given a grand funeral. For the parishioners, Diacono was a catalyst who lifted them out of their misery. As statistics and observations printed in the Government Gazette show, Diacono was a pioneer in promoting crafts, especially lace-making, on a national level.

Despite reports and setbacks, he persisted in his effort to reach his goal because he believed in and boosted the role of women from that confined to housework to that of outward-looking, capable workers who could be relied upon, in addition to a potential contributor to the needs of families in a male-dominant society.

Diacono is buried in the Xagħra church in front of the presbytery entrance beneath the dome he had designed and whose construction he had supervised.

Acknowledgements

 

I acknowledge the kind permission of the Franciscan Sisters at Victoria to consult their archives and the contributors of the publication purposely researched and compiled in memory of the 100th anniversary from the death of Fr Joseph Diacono.