Leonardo Abela - July 22, 2007

In his comprehensive biography of Leonardo Abela, Judge Giovanni Bonello (The Sunday Times, July 8, 15) notes that besides the relatione on his mission in the Middle East, no other manuscript by Abela has survived.

Actually, there are two other manuscripts by Abela in the Vatican archives which clarify his role in the congregation for calendar reform set up by Pope Gregory XIII. Both manuscripts, dated March 12, 1580, are translations in Latin of a thorough criticism in Arabic made by Ignatius (original name Na'amatallah) Patriarch of Antioch in Syria of the proposal for the reform.

The original document in Arabic has also survived. The criticism was heeded and as a result, some details of the original proposal were changed in the final report. These are explained in two papers published in the proceedings of a conference to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Gregorian reform of the calendar held at the Vatican in 1982.

From the available evidence, it appears that Abela's role was that of translator of Ignatius' written and oral communications with other members of the congregation and as witness to the signatures of Patriarch Ignatius on the final report. It is also clear that he had a good understanding of the technical complexity of the astronomy involved in the reform and its implications.

Curiously, as noted by Judge Bonello too, practically all the relevant literature which I came across referred to Leonardo Abel not Abela, but all agreed that he was from Malta or Maltha.