Archpriest of the Matrice

Salvator was the son of Paolo Pontremoli and Jacoba nèe Apap and was baptized at the Matrice, Gozo. Rev Salvator was ordained priest by Bishop Cagliares, his relative, at Palermo on 18 December 1620.

On 4 October 1621 he was appointed parish priest of the Matrice. Apostolic Letters of the 15 June 1621 sanctioned this appointment and he was installed in this office on the following 9 October. He was already in Rome in 1623.

On 6 June of that year Bishop Cagliares, during the Pastoral Visit, decided to set up the Collegiate Chapter of the said Matrice consisting of the parish priest and another six priests which had to be duly approved by the Holy See. This decree was received its approval from the Congregation of the Council on 31 May 1631 and the parish priest was assigned the title of Archpriest. In the meantime, Rev Salvator Pontremoli graduated Doctor in Both Laws after being examined by the College of Concistorial Advocates in Rome on 21 March 1625.

While he was still in Rome, on 15 July 1623, at the insistence of Bishop Cagliares, he was appointed one of the two procurators in that city in a lawsuit with Archdeacon Salvator Gusman. On 9 August 1624, while he was still in Rome, the Chapter insisted with him to obtain for its members some distinctive choral attire to enhance the Cathedral and give more prominence to all liturgical functions conducted by the Cathedral Chapter.

Archpriest Pontremoli had left Rome on 6 April 1625 after he had graduated Doctor in Both Laws and reached Malta on 22 April, the eve of St George’s feast. He had boarded on one of the two new Galleys of the Order of St John which had been commissioned at Marseilles.

Bishop Cagliares appointed him his delegate to carry out the 1628 Visitatio ad Limina Apostolorum which he duly accomplished.

Pope Pius V had incorporated to the Matrice and its parish prebend all tithes that were due from Gozitan landed property. In 1637, the said parish prebend had an annual revenue of eighty-nine scudi and fifteen uncie. Apart from this endowment Archpriest Salvator Pontremoli acquired several ecclesiastical benefices.

Bishop Cagliares took the initiative to build a house attached to a church dedicated to St Nicholas situated in the Castello. This house was meant to be the Matrice’s parish priest residence.  Archpriest Pontremoli was the first to dwell in this new premise.

Apostolic Letters of the 19 August 1656 assigned him the Ta Bir it-Twil Cathedral canonry after its resignation by his nephew Cleric Paschal Tonna Pontremoli and was installed in this office on 4 February 1657. On this occasion, he tendered his resignation from the office of the Matrice’s Archpriest.

Apart from the said office, Rev Pontremoli had been in the service of the Holy Office in Malta and was appointed Pro-Inquisitor on three occasions, namely in 1655, 1658 and 1663. After his installation as Cathedral canon, in 1658, he was formally informed that he was entitled to receive the choral distributions whenever he was absent from the Cathdral service on account of his involvement in the said office.

Apart from the above-mentioned offices, he was also assigned the commitment of Pro-Vicar for Gozo during the following years namely 1610, 1621-1623, 1625-1627 and 1647-1655.

Rev Salvator Pontremoli died in Senglea and was buried in the Santa Maria di Gesù church at Valletta on the next day.

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