Bishop of Malta

Francesco Saverio Angelo Giovanni was born in Ħaż-Żebbuġ to Giuseppe Caruana and Margerita nèe Bonnici. His father was a wealthy cotton merchant who employed several families in his weaving business.

Caruana studied at the seminary and was ordained priest by Bishop Labini on 20 December 1783, aged 24.  He taught at the seminary and wrote various dissertations and a book on Latin grammar. He was nominated a canon of the cathedral chapter in 1796.

The account hereunder is based on several sources published since 1980, by Carmelo Testa, Charles Boffa, J.R.S. Farrugia Randon, Giovanni Bonello, Charles Xuereb, and Charles G. Gauci. They have written extensively and exposed several  myths surrounding Caruana and revisiting his role in Maltese history.

When the French took Malta in 1798 Caruana had already taken over his father’s cotton business and was very popular in Ħaż-Żebbuġ.  On 13 June 1798 the French authorities appointed him a member of the new commission of government with a salary of 1,000 francs. Francesco Saverio Caruana and his family were very affluent, mainly because of their involvement in the local cotton industry and the evidence suggests that it was this, that was the catalyst which made him break away from the French.

Caruana unwillingly accepted to be a member of the government commission. It is said that he convinced Napoleon not to break the noble arms in St John’s cathedral. When he could not prevent the French from making unjust laws he resigned from the commission.

In July 1798, General Vaubois, the French commander, complained that the cotton manufacturers, including the Caruana family, were no longer providing the local weavers with the raw material they needed and that they were hiding it away to create an artificial shortage. After this accusation, Caruana ceased to attend the sittings of the commission and retired to his house in Ħaż-Żebbuġ.

As soon as Emanuele Vitale learned that Caruana quarrelled with the French, he wrote to him asking for an appointement. Caruana promptly invited him together with Count Manduca, Count Theuma Castelletti, and Marquis de Piro. Vitale was acclaimed as supreme commander of the Maltese forces. The representatives of Ħaż-Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi  refused to recognise Vitale’s overall command and elected Caruana as the General of their own forces. The National Congress of February 1799 confirmed them both – Caruana and Vitale – as Commandanti Generali delle truppe di Campagna.

When the insurrection broke out Caruana assumed command of the Tas-Samra camp – which was manned by villagers from Ħaż-Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi. This site was the most vulnerable position held by the Maltese, well within range of the French cannon at Floriana. On 25 September 1798 Vitale and Caruana wrote to the French commander Vaubois, blockaded with his troops in Valletta, requesting his surrender. This letter remained unanswered as Vaubois considered the Maltese delegates to be merely rebels against the French Republic, lacking any legal status and certainly having no rights to negotiate.

Although Caruana played a prominent role in the insurrection, he seemed to have supported various mutually antagonistic factions – the Order, Russia, The Two Sicilians, and Great Britain, according to where the wind was blowing. Apart from his military rank, Caruana also represented the clergy on the National Congress. Eventually Caruana lost esteem among the insurgents whose confidence in him wavered, and who, at one point, threatened to kill him. Accusations of cowardice in the face of the enemy were levelled against Caruana, who co-signed most of the letters sent by the Maltese leadership to Sicily, Naples, and Nelson.

17th January 1799 was the day when Dun Mikiel Xerri was executed, for his part in a failed plot to oust the French. This was indeed a black day for Malta. Emanuele Vitale and Francesco Saverio Caruana had an urgent meeting with Captain Ball abroad his ship to discuss the precarious military situation. Vitale, Caruana, and other leaders of the insurrection wrote to Admiral Nelson asking him to intercede with the King of Naples to obtain corn on credit, pledging all property in Malta as security for eventual payment. Nelson  spoke  to the King and to his prime minister Lord Acton, but although both promised help, this help never materialised.

Caruana and Vitale were instrumental in bringing the British to Malta. Owing to the great strength of the French garrison, Generals Graham and Pigot and their Maltese allies were obliged to resort to a blockade, and after a siege of nearly two years, the loss of 20,000 Maltese lives,  famine and disease compelled the garrison to surrender on 5 September 1800. The instruments of surrender were signed between the French and the allies, but no representative of the Maltese was invited to sign.

With the British in possession of the Maltese islands, Caruana’s rewards now started to materialise. Before leaving Malta Alexander Ball offered Caruana a palazzo in South Street, Valletta, but Caruana refused it, because his family already had a house in Valletta. Caruana was appointed rector of the University by the British between 28 October 1800 and 27 November 1822. During his 22 years as rector he established the chairs of canon law and history of the Church, and the schools of design, painting, sculpture, and architecture. Thanks to him the government started sending art students to further their studies in Rome.

In 1816, Governor Maitland nominated Caruana a member of the commission entrusted with the administration of the charitable institutions, and in April 1822 he was nominated one of the vice-presidents of the Casa d’Industria at Floriana.

In 1822 Caruana was recommended to the Holy See by the British to become as archdeacon of the cathedral chapter. He expected to become bishop after the death of Mgr Labini in 1807 but the Pope appointed Ferdinand Mattei, who was the auxiliary bishop.

Seven years later, after the death of Bishop Mattei, Caruana was elected capitular vicar, and he governed the diocese till February 1831, when on the insistence of the British government, Caruana was nominated bishop of Malta by Pope Gregory XVI. He was ordained bishop on 15 May 1831 at the age of 72.

In 1835 Giorgio Mitrovich published a book in London entitled The Claims of the Maltese founded upon the Principles of Justice. The Maltese were finally given a Legislative Assembly by Instructions dated 1 May 1835 and the Bishop was given a seat on the Assembly. Bishop Caruana immediately complained as he was given third place in the Council. His claim was rectified and the Secretary of State then placed him next to the Governor. However Caruana resigned on instructions from Rome. He adamantly refused to take the oath imposed on members of the council that they would never ‘disturb or weaken the Protestant religion or the Protestant Government in the United Kingdom’.

Caruana suffered a stroke three years after becoming bishop.  Effective ecclesiastical power passed to his secretary, and alleged illegitimate son, Canon Philip Amato.  Giovanni Bonello says that ‘differently from his reputed father, Bishop Caruana, [Canon] Amato was a staunch patriot who often defied the British raj’.

Francesco Saverio Caruana died after 16 years as bishop at the age of 88, and his remains were interred at the cathedral in Mdina. A monument of Bishop Caruana was inaugurated at the Mdina Cathedral in 1888.

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