Former Head of a Vatican Congregation

Born in Senglea, the son of Joseph Mallia and Giovanna née Attard, Joseph studied at the Seminary. In 1950 he joined the Augustinian Order and was given the name of Patrick. He was ordained priest on 6 April 1957 and in the same year he entered the Lateran University. In 1961 he obtained his doctorate in canon and civil law (JUD) with his thesis ‘Organisatio Ecclesiae Angliae’ and in 1961 he was appointed professor of canon law at the Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome. In 1964 he was appointed lector in canon law of the Augustinian Order.

Since 1966 Mallia has served in various commissions and offices of the Augustinian Order and of the Catholic Church at the Holy See. In 1966 he was appointed consulter of the International Commission to revise the Augustinian Order Constitution after the Second Vatican Council, while in 1969 he was appointed director of the Augustinian Third Order at St Monica, Rome, and representative of the Augustinian professors at the first International Congress of the Sacred Congregation of Studies. In 1971 he was appointed member of the International Commission to revise the Augustinian ritual and in 1972, 1983, and 1995 Mallia was under-secretary general of the Augustinian Order (for a three-year period each time) and in 1995 he was appointed definitor for the Augustinian general chapter.

At the Holy See, Mallia has served in various commissions and offices. In 1970 he was appointed member of the International Commission of the Sacred Congregation of Studies for the reforms of studies at Catholic seminaries. In 1971 he was appointed Official of the Sacred Congregation of the Religious Orders and re-appointed in 1980. In March 1995, John Paul II appointed him Capo Ufficio of the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutions. Mallia retired in Malta in 2005, but he continued to assist various institutes of religious and consecrated life as counsellor with regards to the legal interpretations of matters or problems arising in the constitutions regulating this life.

In June 2007, Mallia was awarded the insigna of Pro Ecclesia et Pontefice (PEP) by Pope Benedict XVI. The award was consigned to Mallia by Cardinal Frank Rode, prefect of the Holy See’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, to which Mallia dedicated more than 33 years of service.

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