For whom did the bells toll?

The Leone and the La Stella philharmonic societies of Victoria are once again engaged in controversy, this time over the ringing of bells from the belfry of St George's Basilica during the morning march on August 15 when the feast of Santa Marija was celebrated in the Gozitan capital.

The Leone Band Club, organisers of the external feast of Santa Marija, is accusing the authorities of St George's Basilica with allowing the excessive ringing of bells during the march with the intention of trying to disrupt the popular event.

In reply, the rival La Stella Band Club, which is closely associated with the feast of St George, said that although it was not their responsibility to interfere in the ringing of church bells, it assumed that supporters of the feast of Santa Marija would have objected had such a solemn feast not been celebrated with the tolling of bells.

Contacted by The Times, the archpriest of St George's Parish, Mgr Joseph Farrugia, said he preferred not to comment.

A spokesman for the Gozo Curia told The Times the ecclesiastical authorities in Gozo had issued directives for the ringing of bells and band marches that take place as part of external festivities. Those who did not observe the directives would be disobeying the church authorities and would be responsible for the consequences of their actions.

He declined to comment on this particular controversy.

In a statement yesterday, Mario Gatt, secretary of the Leone Band Club, referred to various "provocations" among which, he said, were the toppling over of outdoor decorations for the feast of Santa Marija at the Gholja ta' Gelmus, the throwing of paint on street decorations, the spilling of oil in streets, including in the procession route, and the ringing of bells from St George's parish church between noon and 2.30 p.m. This ringing was interpreted as an attempt to disrupt the band march.

Mr Gatt acknowledged that churches were obliged to ring their bells when important feasts like that of the Assumption are celebrated but normally the ringing at mid-day did not last more than 30 minutes.

He referred to the efforts by the Santa Marija parish to convey a message of unity to the residents of Victoria, which unity, he said, had not yet materialised and, judging by trends over the last fives years, was still a long way off.

In a counter statement, George Farrugia, assistant secretary of the La Stella Band Club, said the club disassociated itself from the acts of provocation mentioned by the Leone Band Club and condemned such acts.

Mr Farrugia said the La Stella Society worked hard to prevent any trouble on such occasions. In fact, it had decided to change the route of the morning band march on the day of the feast of St George to by-pass areas traditionally crowded with supporters of the rival feast. However, this gesture was not reciprocated but instead was interpreted by the other society in a negative way.

Mr Farrugia said that each year the morning march on August 15 degenerates into a demonstration in St George's Square which was characterised by insults against St George.

In Malta the church authorities are on a sharp lookout for any excessive rivalry and practices which robbed town and village feasts of their religious nature.

It has also decided to call off feasts on a number of occasions, the last example being in June when the feast of the Holy Trinity in Marsa was called off after differences arose between the parish priest and the external festivities committee. On that occasion, the Curia said that after closely examining the situation in the locality it felt it was in duty bound to call off the feast in the interest of the common good and public order.

The Marsa feast, the Curia had said, was often a scene for fights, insults, unacceptable rivalry and disorder.