In its General Chapter of July-August 1982, the Missionary Society of St Paul took a very important decision, namely to request the Archbishop's approval for the cause of the beatification of the society's founder, Mgr Giuseppe De Piro, to begin.
The newly-elected Superior General, Fr James Bonello, in submitting the request, also asked that the postulator of the cause presented by the society be approved as well. Archbishop Mercieca accepted both requests.
Thus began the mammoth task of collecting all documents connected with the founder, and classifying them. The postulator also drew up a list of all persons who had some connection with Mgr De Piro and asked each of them for a personal interview so as to record on tape all they knew about the founder; each recording was subsequently transcribed.
Many of these persons were already quite advanced in years, and it has to be remembered that Mgr De Piro died in September, 1933. So the church authorities also approved the setting up of an ecclesiastical tribunal before which these persons were then to give evidence, even though the cause proper had not even started.
In this way, it was ensured that the greatest possible number of those who had known Mgr De Piro personally could give their testimony about him before the competent authorities.
The tribunal started hearing these elderly witnesses on November 12, 1986. The last to testify did so on November 27, 1987. In the meantime, work on the collation and classification of all other related documents continued, and these documents were eventually published.
The diocesan process officially began on October 7, 1988, during a private ceremony conducted at St Agatha's chapel by the Archbishop himself. The first of the witnesses referred to gave his testimony again during this ceremony. From that day on, Giuseppe De Piro came to be called by the title of "Servant of God".
All possible evidence about Mgr De Piro continued to be collected, and the last person to testify did so on May 11, 1992. In the meantime, on September 4, 1988, the Archbishop appointed a two-member Historical Commission to examine carefully all the documentation available, and presented a scientific report.
He also appointed two theologians to review the documents theologically, and any writings of Mgr De Piro to establish that they did not contain any teaching that went against Church teachings of the day.
More recently, since the diocesan process was nearing its end and the second phase of the cause was about to start in Rome, Mgr Charles Scicluna was chosen as the new postulator.
The Ecclesiastical Tribunal on August 12 last year visited and inspected Mgr De Piro's tomb to ascertain that no undue devotional practices existed. And this visit constitutes one of the very last testimonies that mark the closure of the diocesan process.
The closure of the diocesan process is an important step in the canonisation process. At this stage, the tribunal presents all the documentation gathered so far to the Archbishop, and the tribunal's officials will then seal all this voluminous documentation so that it can be forwarded to Rome.
Once the whole documentation reaches Rome, the second phase of the beatification cause, known as the apostolic process, begins. In Rome, the Congregation of Saints now assumes responsibility for the whole process, nominates one of its relatores to the cause, and together with the postulator will then prepare all the documents so that these may be studied by new theologians and a number of cardinals.
The first duty of the Congregation of Saints is to establish whether Giuseppe De Piro lived the Christian virtues in a heroic manner. Once this conclusion is reached, the title of Servant of God is dropped, and the title Venerable assumed instead.
Afterwards, if somebody claims that a miracle has been made through the intercessions of the Venerable person, the theologians and cardinals, together with the medical commission, will carry out all the necessary examinations to verify the validity of such a claim. If their findings are positive, then the beatification of the person previously declared Venerable follows. A person declared Blessed is then canonised if another miracle will be established as having taken place through his/her intercession.
In the case of the Servant of God Giuseppe De Piro, the first phase - the diocesan process - in the cause of his beatification will come to a close on Saturday at 6 p.m. in a concelebrated Mass to be held in the Cathedral at Mdina led by Archbishop Mercieca and the Metropolitan Chapter.
The Superior General of the Missionary Society of St Paul, his Vicar for the Malta Region, and all MSSP members cordially invite everyone to this Pontifical Mass which will conclude the diocesan process of the beatification cause of the Servant of God Giuseppe De Piro.