Today, St George's Day, is quite appropriate to cite the Great Martyr's name with honour, unlike what a correspondent from Gozo did the other day (April 21).
It is obvious that Anton F. Attard is no Edward Gibbon or Richard Crackenthorp, Melankton, Tilenus, Luther or Erasmus of Rotterdam. These gentlemen of old were not particularly enamoured with St George and their pleasure for him was proportionate to their love for the Catholic Church. But at least they were more or less versed in what they claimed to be, that is, antiquarians, divines and, above all else, protestants.
Judging by what he has written about the Catholic Church and her veneration for St George, Mr Attard seems to be versed only in abject ignorance.
Empty heads have never taken particular hold on me but my affection for St George, whose veneration I have been privileged to sustain as archpriest of the Gozitan basilica dedicated to him, the love I have for Catholic liturgy and my devotion to the Catholic Church actually do.
Hagiographers, scholars of Church history and archaeologists in the Holy Land in fact uphold the cult that St George has received from the very time of his death in AD 303. His tomb at Lydda became a hub of veneration from the time of his burial and the Byzantine remains of the basilica built over it can still be examined in both the structure of the extant church and the adjoining mosque.
In his attempt to pit "his" St Ursula against the Holy Protector of Gozo, the correspondent extravagantly claims that "archaeological and hagiographical evidence related to St Ursula outweigh by far those related to St George".
Well, as a priest I have always commemorated St Ursula as I do St George, albeit the latter with more solemnity, and I agree with George Francis Vella (April 16) that St Ursula's assumed protection is always welcome. But may I point out that in the 1969 revision of the Roman Calendar, the commemoration of St Ursula was "abolished" and remains so, while that of St George was, yes, reduced to an optional memorial, but remained confirmed as worthy of universal liturgical memory.
The official hagiographical note accompanying this confirmation as well as the statements issued through the media by the Roman officials involved in the revision of the calendar cannot be clearer in stating that the cult of St George started with his martyrdom from the fourth century and matured around his tomb which was a centre for Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.
To say that there was no cult of St George among the Byzantines before the sixth century is to fly in the face of such manifest evidence as the Lydda basilica as well as the many memorials dedicated to him, including the church named after "the triumphant George and his companions" in Syria and within living memory of the Martyr's death.
As regards the dedication of Christian Gozo to St George, Mr Attard is free to maintain his peculiar views which, happily, are not mine, nor, patently, those of other scholars and, nearer to the core at issue, those of our islands' forefathers.
Today, St George's Day, I do indeed join the forefathers of these islands, our English brethren and so many countries and cities across the world in rendering honour to St George, the great martyr and outstanding witness to Christ and his Church. I do it with Christian pride, Gozitan joy, and in prayer.