Bishop Cauchi's episcopate

The outgoing Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Nikol Cauchi, will leave an indelible mark on his small diocese - and beyond it.

Although the jurisdictional territory of his episcopate was small, the repercussions of his administration and his decisions in temporal and spiritual matters will strongly resound into the new episcopate of his successor, Mgr Mario Grech.

The 30-odd years of Bishop Cauchi's episcopate will be hard to emulate. Of course, his admi-nistration would not have been so successful were it not for the active participation and understanding of the Gozo parish priests and members of the clergy. Religious entities' support and the backing given to new spiritual groups by the Gozo Curia also helped.

A look through documents and publications released at the beginning of Bishop Cauchi's episcopate reveals his appeals made to all Gozo religious entities for full co-operation in line with Church teachings: the Bishop had to implement the decisions approved by the Second Vatican Council in 1965.

Consequently, the new appointments were intended to establish the decisions which were to reform the liturgical celebrations as well as to revamp the Gozo Curia and prepare it for future challenges, like the infiltration of the secular mass media which the Sixties revolutionised and made more easily accessible to the public. The bishop took these changes into consideration, as they might have influenced the values of the deeply-rooted Catholic faith held so dear by the Gozitans.

The results of his efforts can be seen in the weekly bulletin delivered to each Gozitan household and parish publications.

Bishop Cauchi's episcopate experienced tumultuous times, especially in the Eighties, when the two Curias faced the Church schools crisis. I remember when classes were held in private residences; it was a difficult period for Bishop Cauchi, as it was feared that the Church schools would eventually close down and deprive students of sound religious values.

His tenure's highlight however, was the number of priestly vocations without which a diocese cannot function. Undoubtedly, the support received by the Gozo major seminary was overwhelming throughout. Despite a brief period when the number of seminarians declined, vocations rose again in subsequent years.

Unfortunately, for some, the lack of priestly vocations was an opportunity to close down the major seminary, followed by the dissolution of the Gozo diocese. This would have meant that Gozo would be incorporated with the Maltese diocese, as before 1864.

It is thanks to Bishop Cauchi that seminarians spend the fourth year of their studies abroad. This year serves as a test for the seminarian and his vocation while he carries out pastoral work. On being ordained, the new priest is encouraged to further his studies overseas and to carry out work in foreign parishes where priests are sorely lacking.

Such decisions have proved to be a fruitful investment for the Gozo Curia because its branches have been beefed up with qualified clergy capable of running parishes and other Curia offshoots efficiently.

It was truly commendable of the Maltese authorities to have recognised Bishop Cauchi's achievements by honouring him with Gieh ir-Repubblika.

It could not have been more fitting considering his episcopate has laid the ground for continuous spiritual progress.