Pope John Paul II has ordered that three Maltese Venerables - Dun Gorg Preca, Nazju Falzon and Suor Adeodata Pisani – be called Blessed from now on. The beatification took place during a ceremony at the Granaries in Floriana on Wednesday at around 10:00 CET.
The Pontiff, now in the second day of his visit to Malta also decreed the dates when the three feasts can be celebrated. The feast of Blessed Dun Gorg Preca will be celebrated on the 9th of May, the day of his beatification. The feasts of Blessed Nazju Falzon and Blessed Adeodata Pisani will be celebrated every year on the 1st of July and the 25th of February respectively – the day they passed away.
Archbishop of Malta Guzeppi Mercieca had read short biographies of the three candidates before the actual beatification.
The ceremony, which continued with a mass finished at around 12:20 CET and was mostly celebrated under a scorching sun .
The Pope greeted the tens of thousands gathered on the granaries with a loud "L-Mulej maghkom" in Maltese. Shortly afterwards, Archbishop of Malta Guzeppi Mercieca made a short speech in English thanking God for the evangelisation of the Maltese Islands by St. Paul. The Pope celebrated the ceremony in English but the faithful replied in Maltese. Pope John Paul II’s arrival at the Granaries and the first part of the beatification ceremony is available as a webcast on-demand in MaltaMedia's special feature. You can also point your browser directly at the audio and video section of the feature .
At first the Pontiff was not looking as tired as he had looked throughout Tuesday but fatigue was quite evident at the end of the ceremony which lasted almost 4 hours.
In his closing speech, the head of the Catholic church remembered the Gozitans and expressed his sorrow at not being able to visit their island this time around. The Pope also remembered the Nuns belonging to the six cloistered religious communities in Malta.
Finally he referred to the inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility and said: "Now, with particular warmth I greet the inmates of the Corradino Corrective Facility. I know that it was your great desire to have, together with your relatives and friends, a visit by the Pope in memory of Saint Paul, the prisoner Apostle. But this has not been possible. I embrace you all, spiritually, and I invoke upon you abundant divine graces. God bless you all!".200 priests administered the Eucharist to the crowd that started gathering at the Granaries very early in the morning. It is thought that some even chose to sleep there in sleeping bags overnight.
After the beatification, the Pontiff boarded a private car that took him to the Apostolic Nunciature in Rabat for a few hours of rest.
Further details about the Pope's visit to Malta, are available online through MaltaMedia's special feature.(MM)