The Leone Philharmonic Society yesterday clarified that it was not involved in the incidents at St George's Basilica in Victoria, Gozo, on the eve and feast-day of Santa Marija.

Society president Michael Caruana said that the real sequence of events which took place within the precincts of the basilica was something that had to be established by police and the ecclesiastical authorities.

The society also denied reports indicating that it may have been involved in the chaining of the bells of St George's Basilica.

It said that the feast was celebrated "very smoothly without any incident or problem", adding that this could be confirmed by the thousands of people who packed the streets in Victoria and the Citadel as well as the police officials who were under the constant supervision of Assistant Commissioner Josie Brincat and Superintendent Antonello Grech.

Dr Caruana pointed out that the Leone's society officials co-operated fully with the directions given by the police officers in charge and that the problems which cropped up at St George's Basilica did not in any way affect the proceedings of the feast.