Archbishop Charles Scicluna has appointed two new parish priests and also the head of the retirement home for members of the clergy.
Fr Franco Fenech was appointed parish priest of the Immaculate Conception in Ħamrun, while Fr Bertrand Vella, of the Capuchin Friars Minor, is the new parish priest of the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in San Ġwann.
Fr Fenech was born in July 1966 and joined the Capuchin Franciscan Friars in 1986, receiving his religious formation in Pesaro, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1994 after which he continued his studies at the Gregorian University in Rome.
Between 2002 and 2015, Fr Fenech was the chaplain at the Corradino Correctional Facility and is also the founder of the RISE Foundation, which offers a residential programme of rehabilitation for prisoners. In 2015, he started working pastorally at Mater Dei Hospital.
The parish of the Immaculate Conception has around 4,560 people.
Fr Vella was born in October 1977. He graduated as a religion teacher from the University of Malta.
In 2006, after joining the Order of the Capuchin Friars Minor, he studied philosophy at the Istituto Teologico di Assisi in Italy and theology at the University of Malta. He also studied pastoral care with the sick at the Istituto Internazionale di Teologia Pastorale Sanitaria ‘Camillianum’ in Rome.
He was ordained priest in 2015 and was chaplain at Mater Dei Hospital. The parish of Our Lady of Lourdes gathers around 13,000 people.
Meanwhile, Mgr Anton Portelli has been appointed as the new director of the Dar tal-Kleru, in Fleur-de-Lys, which currently houses 39 elderly priests.
He succeeds Mgr Anton Cassar who will continue to give his service in the Archdiocese.
Born in May 1947, Mgr Portelli studied philosophy and theology at the University of Malta and also obtained a Master’s in human resources development.
He was ordained a priest in 1972. In 2006, he became administrative secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta and in 2015 appointed as archpriest at Stella Maris where he continued to serve since.