Mgr Paul Cremona has been calm in the run-up to today's consecration ceremony, according to his long-time friend Bishop George Frendo, and is privileged to have been received so positively by the public.

"That's a very promising start; though, of course, he still has to face the real problems. He will be a bishop not just for the people, but one that's close to the people. And he will do his very best to draw back those who feel estranged from the Church," the Auxiliary Bishop of Tirana-Durres, in Albania, told The Times.

Gozo Bishop Mgr Mario Grech believes that Mgr Cremona's background in a religious order will have a bearing on Christian life in Malta.

"It is an advantage, because religious life comprises the essence of the Gospel. There's the attachment with Christ and also the community life aspect, which is considered as the fourth element of religious life along with poverty, chastity and obedience.

"I consider Mgr Cremona as an existential parable which helps us to discover the true meaning of discipleship. He's a profound human and a very deep spiritual person."

Thousands are expected to gather today in Valletta, Mgr Cremona's hometown, to wish the Archbishop well as he makes his way to St John's Co-Cathedral, where the Episcopal ordination ceremony will begin at 6.30 p.m.

A number of children in Church schools have even been given the day off to mark the occasion.

Mgr Cremona will leave his parish in Sliema at 4 p.m. before arriving at the Dominican church, in Valletta, for prayer around 25 minutes later. At 5 p.m. he will be driven through Merchants Street at a snail's pace to City Gate accompanied by the Kings Own Band. At 5.30 p.m., he will be taken into Valletta and down Republic Street, accompanied this time by the La Vallette Band.

At 6 p.m. he will be met by the monsignors of St John's and go on foot to the co-cathedral for the ceremony, which is scheduled to last about two-and-a-half hours. Admission to the church, as well as the square opposite, where large screens will be mounted to relay the ceremony, is only open to ticket holders, due to severe space restrictions.

Three bishops carry out an episcopal consecration. The lead consecrator this evening will be Archbishop Mgr Joseph Mercieca, together with Apostolic Nuncio Mgr Felix de Blanco Prieto and Mgr Frendo.

Proceedings get underway after the proclamation of the Gospel, when the Archbishop-elect is presented for ordination by the presbyters assisting him. One of them will say: "Most Reverend Father, the Church of Malta asks you to ordain this Dominican priest, Paul Cremona, to the office of the episcopate". The Papal letter of appointment is then read and the entire assembly gives its consent to it by saying "Thanks be to God".

Mgr Cremona will then be required to make nine solemn promises, which include discharging the office till death and seeking out stray sheep, before he lies on the floor prostrate while the congregation sings the litany.

Following that is the most significant part of the ceremony - the laying on of hands by all the bishops present, which is the point at which the Holy Spirit is believed to be conferred. The principal ordaining bishop, Mgr Mercieca, will then lay the Book of the Gospels on Mgr Cremona's head until the prayer of consecration is completed.

The new Archbishop's head will be anointed, before he is presented with the Book of Gospels, the ring which symbolises the nuptial bond with the Church, the mitre signifying his resolve to pursue holiness, and pastoral staff or crosier, which symbolises a shepherd's crook. Mgr Cremona will then be led to the bishop's seat of his cathedral church and receive the kiss of peace from Mgr Mercieca.

However, he will not receive the pallium - a circular band of white woollen cloth worn around the shoulders, which is a symbol of the metropolitan bishop's authority in communion with the Church of Rome - until June 29 during a special ceremony led by the Pope in Rome.

Mgr Cremona has described his appointment as "a new venture", and initially approached it with a sense of trepidation: "I was afraid of what it was going to entail, but then I thought to myself that I was given a parish before this. Now instead of having a parish, with the same obedience, with the same availability, I will have a diocese - which externally is something greater, bigger and more responsibility. But internally it's the same giving. I can give to the diocese what I gave to the parish. Probably more, though obviously with the help of many other people."

The 61-year-old Archbishop entered the Dominican order at the age of 17 in 1962. He studied philosophy and theology at the College of St Thomas Aquinas at the Dominican priory in Rabat, and was ordained priest on March 22, 1969.

He obtained a doctorate in moral theology from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome, with a thesis on The Concept Of Peace In Pope John XXIII. Between 1974 and 1980, he was prior at the convent of our Lady of the Grotto, in Rabat. He was re-elected to the same office in 1997 and again served two terms up to 2003.

In 1981, he was chosen Provincial of the Maltese Dominican Province, an office he held for two four-year terms. He then became the parish priest at the Fatima Sanctuary, in Guardamangia, and was responsible for the formation of Dominican novices and students at Rabat. In 2005, he became parish priest at the Jesus of Nazareth parish, in Sliema. He has also been the Archbishop's delegate for consecrated life, assistant spiritual director at the Seminary, a member of the Presbyterial Council, and president of the Council of Maltese Religious Major Superiors (KSMR).

Mgr Cremona is the author of several books and has also been a regular preacher at Lenten sermons, as well as being sought regularly by a great number of religious and laymen, particularly married couples, for spiritual direction. This is one thing he will miss once he steps into his new role: "I've had a lot of people who have been coming to me - some of them could be couples or people in religious life - for 20 or 30 years and this appointment means I can't be as available as I was. For instance, some people are saying 'could we continue', and I have to say 'now it's different, I can't'. That hurts and hurts a lot, when you build up that sort of spiritual relationship with people," Mgr Cremona said.

The promises Mgr Cremona must make

• To discharge until death the office received from the apostles and transmitted to the ordained by the laying on of hands.

• To preach the gospel with constancy and faithfulness.

• To guard the deposit of faith, entire and incorrupt, as handed down by the apostles and kept by the Church everywhere and at all times.

• To build up the body of Christ, the Church, and to remain united with it within the order of bishops under the authority of the successor of St Peter.

• Of obedience to the successor of apostle Peter.

• To guide and sustain the people of God on the way of salvation as a devoted father with the help of priests and deacons.

• To be welcoming and merciful to the poor, strangers, and all those who are in need.

• To seek out the sheep who stray and to gather them into the fold of the Lord.

• To pray ceaselessly for the people of God and to carry out the office of high priest without reproach.