Ex-Franciscan friar Fr Adrijanu Cachia was dismissed from the order and banned from exercising the priestly ministry in public over insubordination in 2016. Two weeks after he sparked controversy when he walked onto an altar in Għargħur, he tells Mark Laurence Zammit why he believes he did nothing wrong.

Fr Adrijanu Cachia insists the punishment imposed on him by the Franciscan Order and the Church is unfair and insists he will wear his robe again in public.

The former friar is banned from exercising Mass in public, and he found himself in hot water when he attended Mass at the Għargħur parish church last month.

He wore his priestly robes and sat on one of the front benches, and just as parish priest Christopher Galea was about to start giving communion, Fr Cachia walked up the steps and joined to receive communion himself from the altar.

The parish priest stopped the Mass and walked off in protest.

“I don’t know why he reacted that way,” Fr Cachia says.

“We could have argued over it after Mass was over, but not at the altar... there was a lot of commotion.”

In response to the incident, Fr Galea had told Times of Malta, “I knew he was banned by the Curia because we all know him, and we know the rule. So, I refused to have him there. He insisted on staying so I simply stopped the Mass and went into the sacristy.”

Fr Cachia believes the response was unfair.

“I am still a priest, and I believe I should be able to receive communion from the altar like all other priests,” he says.

The Church has not stopped Fr Cachia from celebrating Mass. He may still do this in private, but he does not accept this.

“I do not want to celebrate Mass at home. I know it is still valid, but it makes no sense.”

“Mass is meant to be celebrated with other people, and I want to be near the people. I want to die with the people.”

Fr Cachia says he has been joining priests at the altar for some months and he never had trouble with any of them.

“At first I used to stay on the bench and receive communion with the congregation,” he said.

“But then I thought to myself, ‘I am a priest, why don’t I receive communion from the altar?’ And I’ve been walking onto the altar ever since.”

He also says that, up until the Għargħur incident, several priests had ignored the Curia’s orders and invited him to celebrate Mass in public in their churches.

“They know it is an unreasonable order,” he maintains.

I live for what I believe in, and no one can change that

“They also need help with the Mass, and they know that people will come to my Mass, so they frequently call me up and invite me.”

Fr Cachia was dismissed from the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in 2016 following reports of alleged insubordination.

A decree issued by the minister general of the order in Rome stated that Fr Cachia’s dismissal was due to “obstinate disobedience to the legitimate prescripts of superiors in a grave matter and illegitimate absence from the religious house.”

The decree says that Fr Cachia used to celebrate several Masses, on some days up to 10 Masses, with the intention to make money and keep it for himself, and that he lives in his house with a small number of ‘mentally disabled’ youths, risking possible accusations and rumours.

It also says that he engaged in business without the authorisation of the order.

Fr Cachia says he never celebrated more than five Masses daily and cut the number down to just one when the provincial minister asked him to. He also claims to have passed on all money from the Masses to the order.

He said there was never any sexual behaviour, and neither were there accusations or rumours of such behaviour. He says he only kept donations that people gave him personally, so he could give them to those in need.

Fr Cachia claims he started welcoming troubled young men into his home who “had nowhere else to live”.

Upon entering the order, all friars vow obedience to their superiors, but Fr Cachia had seemingly broken this rule quite often. However, he believes his behaviour is not insubordination, but determination.

“I am not disobedient, I am determined. These are two very different things, and I am determined to not lose the priesthood,” he says.

“I believe in a poor and charitable life among people, and I will not obey any of my superiors’ orders if they hinder me from living that life. Obedience should be guided by the gospel, and the gospel commands us to ‘sell your possessions and give to the poor’.

“I live for what I believe in, and no one can change that.”

One of Fr Cachia’s wants to be able to wear his brown tunic in public again. He cannot do this since he is not part of the order any more, but he seems to have found a solution.

“I need to wash it and prepare it, because I am going out with it again,” he says.

Asked how he can do that, he replies: “I will make some alterations to it. I will change it slightly and it won’t be a Franciscan robe any more, so nobody can prevent me from wearing it.

“These things happen all the time, you know, like Big Ben and Big Bon.”

“I want to die wearing the robe.”

Asked if he had ever considered leaving the priesthood, Fr Cachia said it never crossed his mind.

“I have given my word to God, and you don’t mess with God.”

He also claims there were other friars who encouraged him to set up his own order, but he says he always refused.

“I do not want that. It will only create more division in the Church, and that is not what we need,” he said.

Times of Malta contacted the Franciscan Province in Malta to ask for the reasons behind Fr Cachia’s dismissal, its conditions, whether it is permanent and if there are circumstances under which the province would accept him back.

The administration said it would rather not comment.

“We prefer not to comment on the matter since Fr Cachia is not part of the order any more,” it said.

Fr Cachia was dismissed from the Franciscan Order under a different administration to the current one in Malta.