Following the clarification by the president of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation (Times of Malta, August 16), if the revelation is correct, the museum is in for a great renovation.

May it further consolidate itself as one of Valletta’s key attractions, better reflecting the memory of the temple’s striking history. At this early stage of restoration, I wish to recommend the addition of a significant document that deserves a prominent place in the revamped repository.

The document, at present filed at the Archives of the Archdiocese of Malta, recalls how General Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 invited the Bishop to start using this jewel as a major place of worship, further designating Valletta as the island’s capital, upgrading it from its former monastic status.

Following the Convention with the Order in June of the same year, the building became a possession of the Republic of France, Malta having been absorbed as a de facto collectivité locale. As far as I know this deed, signed by Bonaparte himself has never been on display.

Following this ceding, Bishop Vincenzo Labini said the first solemn Mass in St John’s on July 14, 1798 with great pomp, while on the streets of Valletta the Maltese celebrated this French fête up to the small hours.

The display of this document, or an artistic reproduction of it, is fundamental as it throws light on how the Maltese Catholic Church gained access to St John’s. Its significance grows when one remembers that this act by the French might have saved this temple from a possible appropriation by the British authorities when early in the 19th century they were eyeing it for their Mediterranean Anglican Cathedral.