Bishop Giovanni Cefai is in Gozo on his first visit since being appointed by Pope Francis as the first Maltese Bishop of the Missionary Society of St Paul.

His appointment was announced in April and his episcopal consecration at the Cathedral of Arequipa in Peru was held on June 24. His installation within the new prelature of Santiago Apostol in Huancane, high up in the southern Peruvian Andes, followed on June 30.

Last Sunday a cortège left Stella Maris House of the Missionary Society of St Paul in his native village of Żebbuġ for the parish church. Bishop Cefai was accompanied by parish priest John Sultana, children who received their first Holy Communion and Confirmation this year, the Santa Marija Band and members of the Żebbuġ community. At the parish church of the Assumption he celebrated a solemn Pontifical Mass which was attended by Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana and her husband Silvio Valletta, Żebbuġ mayor Nicky Saliba and village councillors.

Bishop Cefai was born on August 5, 1967 in Żebbuġ, gave his solemn vows in 1994 and was ordained priest in 1997. He holds a licentiate in pastoral theology from the University of Malta. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including director of the De Piro youth centre in Malta and parish priest of Santa Cruz and San Pablo Apóstol in Arequipa. He was also regional superior of the Missionary Society of St Paul in Peru.

Meeting and greeting an elderly woman.

Meeting and greeting an elderly woman.

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