Scholar and Vicar General
The parents of Joannes Antonius Cauchi were Notary Tomaso and Geronima and was baptised at St Paul’s parish church Valletta.
Cauchi proceeded to Rome for his higher studies and graduated Doctor in Civil and Canon Law on 24 April 1648. When he was a subdeacon, Bishop Balaguer, making use of the Leonine Indult, granted him the Cathedral canonry and he was installed on April 1652.
But Apostolic Letters had already granted this canonry to Cleric Johannes Montemagni who contested this conferment. A lawsuit ensued notwithstanding that the Vicar General in September 1652, gave a favourable sentence backing Cauchi’s claims. Incidentally, Joannes Antonius Cauchi was ordained priest in Rome on the following day. Montemagni eventually won his case and Cauchi was despoiled of his prebend.
Between 1655 and 1657 he was one of the two Cathedral procurators, and from 1658 till 1660, he was frequently absent from the Island, and during his stay in Rome he rendered sterling service to the Cathedral.
In April 1660, when Cauchi was still in Rome, plans were in the offing to set up a Collegiate Chapter at St Paul’s outside the Walls, which till then formed part of the Notabile and Rabat parish.
The Cathedral Archpriest was responsible for the administration of Sacraments in both Churches. Giovanni Paolo Manduca bequeathed all his assets for this purpose if ever his family would become extinct. In January 1667 Cauchi proudly ascribed to himself various titles that could be linked to this institution once the plan materialised.
Bishop Buenos, appointed Joannes Cauchi as Vicar General in June 1668. He held this office till the death of the said Bishop which was on the 7 September 1668. On this occasion the Cathedral Chapter, during its meeting held on 12 September 1668 elected him Vicar Capitular and he was installed in this office on that same day.
On 7 July 1670 Bishop Astiria chose Cauchi as Vicar General, however, the same bishop removed him from office on 1 May 1674 under the insistence of Grand Master Nicholas Cotoner since the said Grand Master deemed himself offended by Rev Cauchi’s behaviour. During his term of office as Archpriest, the village of Dingli lost its parish status and was incorporated in the Cathedral parish.
On 30 November1669 Cauchi was appointed Dean of the Cathedral Chapter, with the approval of Grand Master Nicholas Cotoner, who enjoyed the right of nomination to this dignity. In September 1671 he led the Pastoral Visit of Imqabba and Safi, and carried out the same commitment at Għaxaq during the following October, and at Mellieħa in June 1673.
On November 1694 he was appointed Archdeacon of the Cathedral, and on the same day he tendered his resignation from the Deanship, and was installed as Archdeacon on 30 January 1695.
His last major intervention within the Cathedral Chapter took place in 1703. In April of the same year, he communicated the setting up of a Seminary in Malta by Bishop Cocco Palmieri and the incorporation to this new institution of the Sant Agata ta Ġiawhar benefices for its maintenance.
Archdeacon Cauchi died at Valletta when he was eighty-eight years old, and was buried in Sancta Maria di Gesù church of Valletta.
Some parish registers of Notabile throw some light into his educational background. He was very well versed in Latin and on various pages of the said volumes he inserted Latin verses.
This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.