Archbishop Michael Gonzi was taken by surprise when the Vatican nominated ‘a little-known’ Gozitan priest as his auxiliary bishop in 1974, a new book reveals.

Mgr Gonzi did not know who Mgr Joseph Mercieca was, according to the book’s author Charles Buttiġieġ, former editor of the Church newspaper Il-Ħajja.

Mgr Mercieca went on to become archbishop in 1976, a position he held for the next 30 years. But the revelation indicates that Archbishop Emeritus Mercieca was an outsider and not on the list put forward by the Church authorities in Malta.

The book being released tomorrow covers Mgr Gonzi’s 50 years at the helm of the Maltese Church.

Mr Buttiġieġ recounts a personal experience from July 1974 when a phone call from the Curia informed him that the Archbishop wanted to meet him at the Archbishop’s Palace in Valletta.

Mgr Gonzi revealed he did not know his new auxiliary bishop

Mr Buttiġieġ was at the time editor of Il-Ħajja and had forged a close relationship with Mgr Gonzi who turned 89 in May of that year.

“The moment they told him I arrived, Mgr Gonzi took me inside [his office]. He informed me that the Holy See was going to announce the nomination of Mgr Mercieca as his auxiliary and he asked me whether I knew him.”

Mr Buttiġieġ says he could not recall who Mgr Mercieca was and asked the archbishop to tell him.

“Mgr Gonzi immediately revealed that he did not know him either… with a smile on my face, I told him: ‘Your excellency, if you do not know him, how am I supposed to?’” The author says that he exited Mgr Gonzi’s office with the impression that the new auxiliary bishop had not been on the list of nominees put forward by the Maltese clergy.

Mr Buttiġieġ says that on his return to the printing press at Blata l-Bajda he started looking up past editions of Il-Ħajja to determine whether the newspaper had ever reported anything about Mgr Mercieca.

He discovered that on February 3, 1970, the newspaper had published a group photo of judges from the Vatican’s Sacred Roman Rota during an audience with Pope Paul VI. “At the side there was a Gozitan priest called Mgr Joseph Mercieca.”

Mgr Mercieca had been rector of the Gozo seminary between 1959 and 1969 till the appointment as judge to Sacred Roman Rota in 1969.

The relationship between Mgr Gonzi and his auxiliary bishop developed positively, according to the author. By 1976, when Mgr Mercieca became Archbishop, he enjoyed Mgr Gonzi’s backing.

1967 Church study spoke of Malta’s silent revolution

Religious indifference was growing as a result of imported ideas, a Church-commissioned study had warned Archbishop Michael Gonzi just three years after Malta declared independence in 1964.

The study spoke of a society that was undergoing “a silent and profound evolution” driven mainly by a changing economy.

“From a closed fortress island, [Malta] was transitioning to an open crossroad,” the Church study said.

Drawn up in November 1967 by Reverend Emile Pin from Rome’s Gregorian University and Fr Benjamin Tonna, director Pastoral Research Services of the Maltese Archdiocese, the report findings were included in a memorandum titled ‘Sociological Aspects of Renewal in Malta’ sent to Mgr Gonzi.

From a closed fortress island, Malta was transitioning to an open crossroad

The Archbishop had commissioned the study to understand how society was changing. It formed part of a wider process of reforms Mgr Gonzi undertook to respond to a changing society.

In 1967 the Nationalist government led by George Borg Olivier was in its second term. Hotels had started mushrooming as they benefitted from favourable lease agreements offered by the government. Malta was facing a building boom but many families were also distraught by State-sponsored emigration, which was used as an economic tool.

The changes were happening against a background of social upheaval caused by the rift between the Church and the Labour Party. The 1966 election was the second one influenced by Mgr Gonzi’s decree that anyone voting for the Labour Party was committing a mortal sin.

This upheaval was reflected in the study: “From a structure based on the [British] services, the economy was transitioning to one based on manufacturing and tourism. Meanwhile, social discourse was political: independence and the Labour Party’s protest against the Church’s dominant status.”

But the study also found that religious attitudes were changing, despite the strong links people still had with religion.

The researchers found that some Catholics were feeling the need for a new “religiosity”, which they did not always find in the model adopted by the Maltese Church. They warned that unless the Church changed, the faithful could be driven away.

“This is why some were turning towards ideas from the UK and American literature. Others may not feel the need for this [turning towards imported ideas] but unless they found a different type of religious offering, the changes could lead them to become anti-clerical in a short period of time, if not religiously indifferent.”

The study established that priests were aware of the threats but many found it difficult to find an adequate response.

“Malaise reigns among the clergy: they know that religiosity is threatened and that religious practice is declining but are at a loss when deciding on what ought to be done,” the report authors said.

An action plan presented to Mgr Gonzi in the summer of 1967 prior to the study had included a proposal to hold a census of Church attendance.

This was held on December 17, 1967, barely a month after Mgr Gonzi received the findings of the study. The first census to determine Mass attendance had to give the Church authorities a snapshot of how deep and wide Catholics were committed to their religion.

The survey of churchgoers found that 198,150 had attended at least one of the 803 Masses celebrated around Malta on the day. This accounted for 83 per cent of those who, according to the Church, were obliged to attend Sunday Mass.

The numbers still showed a strong Church but when addressing a gathering of parish priests a year later, Mgr Gonzi urged priests to move with the times.

“The traditional pastoral work adopted until now was undoubtedly suited to yesterday’s people and it had good results… but this is not enough for today’s world,” Mgr Gonzi said.

Less than a year later, in April 1969, the Church and the Labour Party reached a peace agreement. It ended the politico-religious battle that caused so much pain to many people and allowed the Church to concentrate on pastoral changes that responded to a growing secular society

Church-MLP relations: respect and friction in the post conflict years

In June 1971, Dom Mintoff became prime minister again, 13 years after resigning from government following disagreement with the British colonial powers.

But significantly it was the first election to be held after the Labour Party and the Church buried the hatchet in 1969 that ended the politico-religious conflict that marred the 1960s.

Three days after the election, Mr Mintoff addressed his party’s general conference and listed the organisations and individuals who congratulated the party on its victory.

In his book Charles Buttiġieġ says that one of the first letters Mr Mintoff had received was from Archbishop Michael Gonzi and the former prime minister made it a point to mention this during the conference speech.

“I take this occasion to wish the Archbishop a long life so that he will continue to lead the Church in Malta and have good relations with the Labour government,” Mr Mintoff had said.

It was a sign of what many considered to be the opening of a new chapter in the relations between the Church and the Labour Party.

Mr Buttiġieġ says that soon after the election result, in a letter signed by Mgr Gonzi, the Maltese Episcopal Conference congratulated Mr Mintoff on his victory.

The book highlights the road that led to the 1969 accord and the important role played by Archbishop Emmanuel Gerada, who was sent by the Vatican to broker the deal.

But it also brings to fore anecdotes that attest to the personal respect that existed between Mgr Gonzi and Mr Mintoff despite holding opposite visions of how they wanted society to develop.

Mr Buttiġieġ says that despite the Church opposing the civil reforms introduced by the Mintoff government in the first half of the 1970s, Mgr Gonzi maintained good relations with Mr Mintoff.

By 1976 when Mgr Gonzi’s tenure ended, the Prime Minister wished him well and congratulated him for the title of Archbishop Emeritus bestowed on him by the Pope. “In this way your work as Archbishop has been recognised and etched in the Maltese Church’s history.”

The book and the author

Michael Gonzi – Fifty years at the helm is written by Charles Buttiġieġ and published by Klabb Kotba Maltin.

Selling at €30, the book will be available at bookshops from tomorrow.

Mr Buttiġieġ was editor of the defunct newspaper Il-Ħajja and later public relations officer at the Archbishop’s Curia. Last year he authored the memoirs of Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca.