A “weak character” more inclined to curry favour is how Prime Minister Dom Mintoff described then Archbishop Ġużeppi Mercieca at the height of their frosty relations in 1980.

Mr Mintoff had made his disdain for the Church’s choice of Mgr Mercieca extremely clear and never missed an opportunity to make his feelings heard.

“His time as an Auxiliary Bishop has shown him to be lacking the ability to lead and hold strong in the face of pressures from traditional elements that are keeping the Church in Malta among the most backward...” he wrote in a letter to Pope John Paul II in February 1981.

These details emerge from the memoirs of the 85-year-old Archbishop Emeritus, Ilkoll Aħwa Fi Kristu (Brothers in Christ), who led the Church during the turbulent clashes between the Curia and the Malta Labour Party in the 1980s.

Mgr Mercieca dedicates a chapter detailing his relationship with the fiery premier that eventually softened and led to an unusual friendship towards the end of Mr Mintoff’s life.

Titled Dom Mintoff and Ġużeppi Mercieca, the chapter recounts how relations between the two started on the wrong foot; a relationship that was further fragmented by the strife over Church schools and property.

“For truth’s sake, in memoirs such as these, it is with great sadness that I have to acknowledge that during that period Mr Mintoff’s behaviour towards me and the way I worked were often unhappy, hard and painful,” he said.

The way Mr Mintoff used to refer to him during public events often led Mgr Mercieca to wonder what more he had left to say about him.

During these times, he prayed a lot for courage, prudence, humility and a sense of responsibility.

Every day, every morning, I still think of him and pray for him

“I often kept everything bottled up inside. My lips had learnt to remain pursed. I cherished this personal control; I saw in it a great value.

“It was a silence rooted in a determination that no matter what happened I would remain on the path of calm, prudence, patience, personal sacrifice and hope that goodwill would lead to better days; days that would mature into reconciliation and a lasting unity for the good of all.”

At the time, Mgr Mercieca dedicated a lot of his time to trying to better understand what made Mr Mintoff tick, weighing up his every word, his traits and how he viewed the Church.

“We disagreed about a lot of things... I kept on the straight and narrow but at the same time I tirelessly tried to discover his good side and appreciate him. I believed our relationship would eventually turn a new leaf. And I gladly say that is what happened,” he recalled.

However, it took a long time for relations to thaw and years had to pass until Mgr Mercieca’s steely persistence paid off.

In the meantime, he faced the daily strife with the conviction that one day he could build a bridge of better understanding between them.

On New Year’s Eve of 1981, he was approached by a priest holding a typed letter handed to him confidentially, which Mgr Mercieca purportedly wrote to Mr Mintoff when he was still Auxiliary Bishop supposedly revealing how “I had long been against him and his party”. Mgr Mercieca had assured the priest he had never written such a letter and he was prepared to meet the person concerned to tell him that all that was being alleged about him was “absolutely false”. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to do this.

“I never learnt where the letter originated from, who had passed it to Perit Mintoff, who had told him I wrote it, nor who the man who handed the letter to the priest was.

“What I do know is that this case helped me get an insight into how, behind the scenes, there were those who deceitfully tried to stoke the fire.”

Eventually, once Mr Mintoff stepped down and handed the country’s reins to Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici in 1984, the relationship between the two inched closer towards reconciliation.

Mr Mintoff even started inviting Mgr Mercieca to regular private meals at his residence in Delimara, l-Għarix, which helped heal the rift and change the tone.

One particular event that became a regular connection between the two was Mr Mintoff’s birthday when Mgr Mercieca would send his best wishes every year.

It is with great sadness that I have to acknowledge that Dom Mintoff’s behaviour towards me and the way I worked were often unhappy, hard and painful

On August 10, 1987, two years after the 1985 basic agreement on Church schools and property, Mr Mintoff had shared his feelings that due to age and circumstances, his wishes to help the people at the time had encountered stumbling blocks.

Mr Mintoff had written: “Your Grace, It was indeed very kind of you to send me your good wishes and blessing on my birthday, especially now, when old age and other circumstances have become a serious obstacle to my wish to be of help to our people in these uneasy times.

“While reciprocating your warm thoughts, may I also augur that one day our parallel paths shall meet for the greater benefit to our little island...”

But the one letter that Mgr Mercieca still holds dear to this day is a short one, which Mr Mintoff had sent on August 9, 1989, clearly showing a new era had begun between them.

In the letter Mr Mintoff wrote: “It was very kind of you to send greetings on my birthday – a gesture of friendship for which I feel I have a very little claim...”

Mgr Mercieca said it was hard to describe in words what he felt in his heart when he received and read this letter, which was so precious to him and the history of their relationship.

“In it I saw a confirmation of how strong, special and extraordinary his character was. A confirmation, if ever there was need for one, that Perit Mintoff was not just anybody.

“This letter is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced in my life. I will cherish it until I close my eyes forever.”

When Mr Mintoff fell ill in August 2012 and was recovering in hospital, Mgr Mercieca had visited him on four occasions. On one of them, Mr Mintoff had surprised him when he said how he had come to recognise Mgr Mercieca’s contribution to the Church.

When Mr Mintoff died, Mgr Mercieca had made it a point to take part in the State funeral, to bid him farewell as a friend.

“I thanked God for all the good he had achieved through him. I thanked Perit Mintoff for the good he had done throughout his life, especially through his zeal to see his country move forward according to what he believed was for the best...

“Every day, every morning, I still think of him and pray for him.”