The new Bishop of Gozo wants to give the greatest importance to priests and the family, his personal assistant Fr Eddie Zammit said yesterday.
Addressing a news conference at the Church's Media Centre, in Blata l-Bajda to launch the new bishop's ministry, Fr Zammit said Mgr Mario Grech, who hails from Kercem, wanted more teamwork in his diocese. There was to be a new style of analysing problems and indicating solutions.
"The new bishop wants to be close to the people and he wants to know what the people expect from the diocese and what they are thinking."
He said the Episcopal motto of Mgr Grech is: "In the breaking of the bread". This is also the motto of the pastoral programme.
The motto was chosen because the Church received its power from the Eucharist.
Fr Zammit said a prayer meeting for all Gozitan priests with bishops Mgr Nikol Cauchi and Mgr Grech would be held at Ta' Pinu sanctuary on Thursday at 6 p.m.
On January 15, Mgr Cauchi will lead a thanksgiving Mass at the end of which the diocese will express its thanks to Mgr Cauchi for the work he carried out as Gozo bishop. A letter from Mgr Grech to all Gozitan families will be distributed.
On January 17, a prayer meeting for nuns and consecrated lay people will take place at the Kercem parish church at 5 p.m. with the participation of Mgr Grech.
A day of solemn adoration will be held at all parish churches in Gozo on January 19.
A prayer vigil open to all will be held at the Xewkija parish on January 21. During the vigil, Mgr Grech will make a profession of faith and take an oath of loyalty to the Church in the presence of Mgr Felix del Blanco Prieto, Apostolic Nuncio to Malta.
The people are being asked to fast on that day in spiritual preparation and in prayer for the new bishop. Bells will ring for 15 minutes in the evening. Church façades and the institutes of the diocese will be lit up and flags will be flown as a sign of celebration.
Mgr Grech will be consecrated on January 22 at the cathedral in Victoria. A cortege accompanied by the mounted police and the police band will leave from the convent of the Capuchin Fathers. Mgr Grech's father was a policeman.
On the arrival of the cortege in front of the cathedral, Mgr Grech will be welcomed by the Vicar General and by the Archdeacon of the Cathedral Chapter, Mgr Giovanni B. Gauci, together with the Cathedral Chapter.
The consecration ceremony starts at 10 a.m. and it will be led by Mgr Cauchi, assisted by Archbishop Joseph Mercieca and Mgr del Blanco Prieto and other bishops. Mgr Grech will bless those present and a street party will follow in Cathedral Square.
The new bishop will visit the sick, hospital chaplains and meet the medical staff at Gozo General Hospital on January 24 and the elderly in homes on January 25.
On January 26, he will be visiting the Gozitan inmates at the Corradino prison. Fr Zammit said that Gozitan prisoners had called Mgr Grech to congratulate him on his appointment.
A family feast for all Gozitans will be held at the Gozo Sports Complex on January 29 between 5 and 7 p.m.
Between January 31 and March 26, Mgr Grech will be spending three days in each of the 15 Gozitan parishes meeting the different communities in the parishes. This will help him to feel closer to the people and assist him in the drawing up of a plan for the diocese.
Mgr Grech is the eighth bishop appointed to Gozo. The first was Mgr Michele Buttigieg in 1864.
Mgr Grech's Episcopal coat of arms, created by Fr Robert Gauci, incorporates the emblems of office, the personal shield and the motto.
It represents the Grech and the Attard surnames - the surnames of his parents, the Eucharistic significance he sees in his new ministry and the island of Gozo.
An article on The Episcopal Arms Of Bishop Mario Grech, by Mgr Joseph Farrugia and photos of a younger Mgr Grech with his family are available on The Times website www.timesofmalta.com