Maltese in Tripoli to celebrate St Paul's feast

St Francis Catholic church in Tripoli will be celebrating the feast of St Paul Shipwrecked on Friday for all Maltese working in Libya.

The Bishop of Tripoli, Mgr Giovanni Martinelli, OFM, will take the opportunity to extend his best wishes and thank all Maltese, especially those working in Libya, for their Christian witness among people of another faith and the Church in Malta for its generosity in supporting the Church in Libya.

Fr Daniel Farrugia, who is serving the church in Tripoli, said: "The feast of St Paul Shipwrecked in Libya is an occasion that recalls our Christian identity as Maltese and also the fact that the Maltese form part of the Universal Church that embraces other cultures and traditions that are very much present in the missionary Church of Libya."

Fr Farrugia said he is grateful to the Maltese Ambassador in Libya, Dr Joe Cassar, the acting Consul and First Secretary, Maria Calleja, the Maltese nuns from the congregations of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart and the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the few remaining members of the Maltese community of Tripoli, the Maltese who work in Libya and Maltese married to Libyans for their support and help to the church.

He has invited all the Maltese in Tripoli to a Mass that he will be celebrating in Maltese on Friday at 6 p.m. in St Francis church, in Dahra, Tripoli. It will be followed by a reception in the parish hall.

Fr Farrugia thanked all the Maltese companies in Tripoli which have sponsored the reception.