Bishop Annetto Depasquale was known to always greet anybody he came across in the streets of his hometown, Qormi, and as his body lay in state in the parish church of St George yesterday, the villagers saluted him for the last time.
“He never ever walked with his head hanging down as others do. He always looked up so that he could greet anybody he passed,” said the owner of a bar outside the church.
“There was no priest like him in Qormi. I felt his loss. He had a magnetic pull,” Darryl Gauci said from behind the counter. He was waiting for his son to replace him so that he could go and pay his last respects to the bishop, who passed away on Tuesday afternoon.
The Vicar General, Titular Bishop of Aradi and Auxiliary Bishop lay in state throughout the day. This morning he will be taken to St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta where his funeral will be held at 2 p.m.
Mgr Depasquale, who had been suffering from ill health, was at the Curia the morning he died at his residence, aged 73. He returned home and had lunch, but when his long-time friend and colleague, Mgr Lawrence Gatt, called to pick him up to attend a meeting that afternoon, Mgr Depasquale’s sister, who lived with him, realised he had collapsed and died.
His corpse was yesterday solemnly carried in an open coffin from his house in Main Street, which he also shared with a brother, along a silent main road to the church. The cortege, which involved the singing of hymns, was led by Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca and followed by his many forlorn brothers and sisters, other family members and some locals.
Outside his house and along the road, neighbours stepped out onto the pavement, some peering out of their doorways, to watch the cortege go by. They affectionately spoke to each other in whispers about the “exemplary” man they had known most of their lives.
“He would always stop to offer us a lift if he saw us on the bus stop,” said one of his neighbours. “I do not know how many times he drove me all the way to Valletta,” the elderly woman said.
Of late, Mgr Depasquale was celebrating Mass at home, she pointed out.
Condolences were conveyed to the Depasquale family by the political parties and the College of Parish Priests, which thanked God for the gift it gave the Church in Malta through him.
“The smile and seriousness with which he did his duty until the end remain an example to follow,” it said.
In a written message, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech described “Dun Annett” as a “wall to rest on”.
“With due respect to my other brothers in the episcopate, I say Mgr Depasquale was the spiritual director among us.”
It certainly was no surprise for Dun Annett to meet God as he used to live in his presence, Mgr Grech wrote. Prayers were said once his coffin was positioned at the foot of the church altar and his emotional relatives approached to say goodbye, touching his clasped hands, blowing kisses, making the sign of the Cross and some breaking down and bursting into tears. They were followed by members of the public, who had also gathered in the church.
A prayer vigil was held in the evening in the presence of President George Abela and the church remained open for visits until 10 p.m.
The public can pay their last respects to Mgr Depasquale at St John’s Co-Cathedral until 1 p.m. today.
The Curia and its institutions will remain closed and a flag will be flying at half mast as a sign of mourning.