Three new deacons ordained at St John's Co-Catherdal

Three religious brothers were ordained deacons by Archbishop Charles Scicluna during a Mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta on Saturday morning.

Fra Mauro Zammit of the Conventual Franciscans and Salesian brothers Raphael Axisa and Matthew Alfino were ordained during a ceremony concelebrated by Fr Eric Cachia, provincial of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Malta, Fr Paul Darmanin, provincial of the Conventual Franciscans, and several diocesan and religious priests.

In his homily, Scicluna urged the three new deacons to follow St Paul’s words to Timothy: “Set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

He told them the diaconate was “forever”, saying they had been marked by a vocation to be “servants of truth, servants of the altar and servants of the poor”.

“You are deacons, you are servants. But your first vocation is to be an example,” he said.

Scicluna said being servants of truth did not mean possessing the truth, but allowing the truth of God’s word to embrace them. As servants of the altar, he said, they were called to a life of prayer and to present their own weakness, and that of humanity, before God.

As servants of the poor, he said, they should remember that all authority in the Church was service, describing it as “the poor serving the poor”, rooted in awareness of their own poverty before God.

Photo: Archdiocese of Malta

The archbishop also addressed each of the three deacons personally.

He reminded Zammit, ordained during the holy year of St Francis, of the Franciscan founder’s decision to live in poverty with the poor.

Turning to Alfino and Axisa, both Salesians, Scicluna said Don Bosco “never sought worldly glory” but dedicated himself to serving young people. He said Don Bosco taught educators to use love and patience, rather than harshness, when working with the young.

Scicluna ended by expressing hope that their witness would inspire new vocations and urged prayers for the values of poverty, chastity and obedience, which he said remained a challenge in a society driven by money and the use of people as instruments.