A Maltese priest known for his decades of missionary work has died while COVID-19 positive in Brazil. 

Brother Ġwann Xerri, a 74-year-old Dominican priest, spent over three decades living and working among the poor in Brazil. Throughout his life he was closely linked to social justice movements. 

Activists paying tribute to Xerri recalled his kind demeanour and commitment to tackling injustice in its many shapes and forms. 

“I met Ġwann Xerri 15 years ago during a Moviment Graffitti meeting,” activist Andre Callus said. 

“Apart from being spellbound by tales of his experiences in Brazil, the leftist ideology that he expressed in such a profound and gentle way had a huge influence on me and my thoughts.”

“This is a huge loss but at the same time I know that Fra Ġwann lived a significant life and left a positive impact everywhere he went and with everyone he met. Thank you for everything Fra Ġwann.”

Journalist James Debono recalled how Xerri had the ability to reach out to people even across perceived divides. 

“I first met him when I was 14 during my first days of activism, although I am agnostic he exposed me to liberation theology, which kept me engaged with radical aspects of Christianity,” Debono said. 

“I fondly remember the Lula t-shirt he brought me from Brazil in 1990. He was always close to Maltese leftists, as I well remember from my days in Alternattiva and Graffitti.”

“I will never forget unique moments spent together, my great friend and teacher,” a friend of Xerri’s, Elizabeth Ebejer, said in a Facebook post.

“You never forget where you came from, you walked behind the Lord, and like the Lord you remained among the less fortunate. You always fought for justice and equality, now it is time to rest, far away from your homeland, I hope you find rest my friend.”

Brother Ġwann Xerri

In a tribute by Fr Joe Borg, Borg said that Xerri’s drive for activism came from the unshakeable nature of his faith. 

“Ġanni’s fight for justice was a natural extension of his radical approach to priesthood. The love of Christ for the poor and vulnerable drove Ġanni, and nothing else. The Gospel and theology of liberation were his political agendas and nothing else,” he said.

In a 2009 interview with Times of Malta, Xerri admitted that he had received hate mail from other priests for expressing his views on migration. 

"How can we say we're morally correct on this issue and then be scandalised when a woman commits an abortion? Why are we so quick to demand that the woman raises every child she conceives even if this is a burden for her, but so silent when it comes to the lives of African immigrants? Is it because this time it is we who have to share the burden?" Xerri had said on the migration crisis at the time.