Many would agree that the house where a saint once lived should inspire people to pray and not gamble their hard-earned cash.
Yet, the plaque marking the spot where St Ġorġ Preca's home in Ħamrun once stood is flanked by the large, red signpost of the Fair Play gambling arcade that shut down a few months ago.
The good news is that for the past 13 years the larger portion of the same block has been used for a more civic purpose: the Ħamrun local council.
Emanuel Curmi, from the society of Christian doctrine, MUSEUM, founded by Dun Ġorġ, explained that the society had not bought the Ħamrun home that had been redeveloped many years ago. However, the MUSEUM had purchased the Santa Venera house where their founder died and hoped to convert it into a museum or commemorative spot in future.
The use of the Ħamrun property, in St Joseph High Street, was raised in Parliament last week when opposition finance spokesman Charles Mangion pointed out it had been reduced to a gaming parlour.
He was speaking during a debate on the Lotteries and Other Games (Amendment) Bill that seeks to better regulate the gaming sector. In fact, the Ħamrun parlour, which did not have a planning permit, was one of some 80 arcades that closed down in August because they were unregulated in terms of gaming law.
Mario Micallef said that when he bought the property in 1992 he was aware of the site's historical value.
"Of course I knew the historic value but there was no-thing much I could do since Dun Ġorġ's original home had already been demolished and rebuilt," he said, adding he had been a MUSEUM member in the past.
The date when the original house was first redeveloped cannot be determined because the planning authority was set up in 1992, when Mr Micallef had bought the plot.
As far as he could recall, the building was used as a video store and haberdashery before he bought it. He demolished, converted the bottom part into a clothes' shop and, in 1996, rented out part of the block to the local council.
He said circumstances had forced him to close his shop and he put an advert in the newspaper to rent it out. The advert was answered by Fair Play.
"I was aware of the contradiction but I needed to rent out the property," he said. He ensured that Dun Ġorġ's presence was not forgotten so he put up the commemorative slab which reads: "So that time will never delete the memory that Monsignor Ġorġ Preca lived in this house for many years".
Historian Alfie Guillaumier, who also lives in Ħamrun, explained that Dun Ġorġ was born in Valletta on February 12, 1880. Some years later he moved to Ħamrun with his family. He then moved out of his parents' house and spent most of his adult life living in the house situated across the road from the St Cajetan parish church.
"The MUSEUM was born on the steps of that church," Mr Guillaumier said.
Dun Ġorġ lived in the Ħamrun house with his sisters who enjoyed sitting outside the centrally-located residence. When his sisters died he moved to a house in Parish Street, Santa Venera, following a disagreement with the landlord. The house was called San Gaetano, like the Ħamrun parish, and belonged to Nelly Bartolo who nursed Dun Ġorġ through his old age.
He died in July 1962, at the age of 82, just 11 months after leaving Ħamrun, Mr Guillaumier said.
Dun Ġorġ was put on the road to sainthood when a civil ser-vant, Charles Zammit Endrich, claimed his detached retina was inexplicably healed after he placed a shoelace belonging to the priest under his pillow.
In 1975, the late Archbishop Michael Gonzi issued the decree starting the process for his canonisation. Dun Ġorġ was declared venerable on June 28, 1999 and beatified by Pope John Paul II in Malta on May 9, 2001.
The second miraculous cure required for his canonisation took place in July, 2001, when a baby boy, Eric Catania, recovered from a severe liver condition after doctors in London said he required a transplant to live. It was declared a miracle by Pope Benedict XVI on February 22, 2007.
On June 3, 2007, 5,000 Maltese made their way to the Vatican to witness the canonisation of Malta's first saint.