The Xagħra parish recently marked the 70th anniversary of the death of its second parish priest, Maurizio Cauchi, with a Mass attended among others by some of his relatives, including Joe Scicluna, a great nephew of Cauchi. 

During Mass, the Scicluna family donated two coloured bozzetti by the Roman artist Virginio Monti. They are to be exhibited at the Xagħra parish museum.

The bozzetti were in the collection of the Scicluna family and represented the central paintings on the vault of the lateral transepts of the parish church. Monti painted and decorated the entire vault during the parish administration by Cauchi in the 1920s.

The Mass was also celebrated for the repose of Scicluna’s late wife, Maria Dolores. 

Meanwhile, the four altar boys from the Xagħra parish, Francesco Bonello, Nicholas Dingli, Carl Mercieca and Simon Zammit, currently serving at the Vatican, yesterday had a private audience with Pope Francis.

Thursday marks the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the largest Catholic church in Rome with which the Xagħra basilica is spiritually affiliated.

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