St Publius

With reference to Simon Busuttil's letter San Gorg Not The First Maltese Saint (June 6), I would like, for the sake of clarity to draw attention to the fact that St Publius patron saint of Floriana is not the St Publius we find in Acts 28: 7-8.

The first, whose feast is celebrated in Floriana every January, was a second century bishop of Athens, martyred under emperor Mark Aurelius circa 161-170 AD.

There is no evidence in sacred scripture or in any other historical source (as far as we know) to confirm that the Publius we find in Acts 28 was consecrated as Bishop of Malta by St Paul before he left the island for Rome.

Unfortunately, this misunderstanding was brought about by the Venerable Bede (673-735) who, in his Martyrologium Romanum Parvum, wrongly identified and confused St Publius bishop and martyr of Athens with the St Publius we find in Act 28:7.

The latter, thought to be born in Malta but of Roman lineage, is described in Acts 28:7 as Princip tal-Gzira (Prince of the island (Bibbja Ghaqda Biblika Maltija 2004)) Hakem tal-Gzira (Governor or ruler of the island (Bibbja Saydon 1995)); Chief of the island (NAB 1979, Christian Community Bible 2nd edition, Good News Bible 2004).

None of the above versions identify Publius of Acts 28:7 as bishop of Malta.

It is my wish that this letter is taken in the spirit of a fair exchange of information and not as criticism, in fact, I also stand to be corrected.