Dr Martin Micallef, OFM Cap, Head of Department, Hebrew, Greek and Sacred Scripture, Faculty of Theology, University of Malta, writes:

Rev. Prof. Donat Spiteri, OFMCap, was among those scholars whose personal and professional qualifications were such that institutions sought them out. He was invariably happy with what he had, with what God had called him to do. Particularly in his work, Rev. Spiteri has consistently manifested that he was not only a biblical scholar but also a theologian who recognised that biblical exegesis must be engaged with the theological subject matter.

His work as a biblical scholar and a theologian converged most visibly in his efforts as a translator with the Malta Bible Society. The huge proportion of time and energy he gave to the translation of the Bible into Maltese was a most significant index of his personal commitment to making Scripture intelligible to the local people. He had a keen sense of the meanings and nuances of words, and his taste in matters of vocabulary was demanding.

Rev. Spiteri pursued his biblical scholarly interests while he continued to serve the Church as a full-time parish priest for many years. A few years after Vatican II, Rev Spiteri responded to one of the re-commendations of the Council, namely, that an easy access to Sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful (Dei Verbum 22). He was indeed a modern-day prophet who accurately read the signs of the times as in 1974 he started to write and publish Kliem il-Ħajja, a daily biblical reading and meditation which is undoubtedly one of the most popular publications in Maltese on the Bible, widely read by many Maltese till this very day.

I had the honour and privilege to work with Rev. Spiteri and to take over some of his work after I pursued my biblical studies in Oxford. I will remember him as someone occupied in scholarly work on the Bible, and who was able to translate into deeds what he learned from the biblical text.