Stolen reliquary returned to Valletta church

A mid-18th century hand-made silver reliquary which was stolen from St Paul's Shipwreck church, in Valletta in January last year has been returned by an unknown person or persons.

The reliquary held a bone fragment from the skeleton of the Blessed Nazju Falzon. It was held under a glass box at the chapel of St Theresa but whoever took the silver piece managed to dislodge it from its base. After the reliquary was spirited away the alarm system was extended all over the church and activated also during the opening hours.

The dazzling reliquary was found by one of the helpers at the church last Wednesday. The helper noticed a cardboard box by the statue showing Our Lady of Sorrows at the crucifixion of Christ.

The helper alerted the parish priest, Canon Alfred Camilleri, who opened the box and found the silver work of art dismantled with the various parts neatly wrapped in very light protective paper.

When contacted, Can. Camilleri said he had always felt that the reliquary would be returned and his first reaction on realising that it had been returned was one of great relief.

The reliquary was in a bad state of repair when Can. Camilleri was appointed parish priest at St Paul's and he had it restored.

When Nazju Falzon was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II three years ago, Can. Camilleri sought to get a relic of the Blessed Falzon to be displayed at St Paul's Shipwreck church.

"The connection between St Paul's and Nazju Falzon was that he used to come to the church every day to pray and he used to teach religious doctrine there as well as at the Jesuits church and at Ta' L-Erwieh church in Valletta," Can, Camilleri said. The returned reliquary will be displayed in a niche in the chapel of St Theresa.

Born on July 1, 1813 Nazju Falzon received the Minor Orders when he was 15. He later read and graduated in theology but felt unworthy of the priesthood.

He dedicated a lot of his time to teaching catechism including among British servicemen. In fact, over 650 servicemen were baptised as a result of this ministry. He died aged 52 and his remains are buried at Our Lady of Jesus Church - Ta' Giezu - in Valletta.

Nazju Falzon was declared Blessed together with Dun Gorg Preca and Adeodata Pisani by Pope John Paul II during his second visit to Malta in May 2001.