The article by Professor Joseph M. Falzon of Tarxien about St Ubaldesca church in Paola (The Sunday Times, October 23), where I was baptised, was of great interest to me. The Order of the Knights of St John was connected with this small but important chapel.
I cannot understand why I was baptised in the chapel in 1937 and not at Christ the King parish church, established many years before I was born.
St Ubaldesca chapel was built in 1629 by Grand Master Antoine De Paule and, when the Knights left Malta in 1798, the chapel became government property. It was handed over to the ecclesiastical authorities (after a request by the bishop) to serve as parish church for the whole town.
Although it had served as the subsidiary parish church from 1905 till 1910 when Casal Paola became a parish, the chapel was no longer a parish church when the largest church in Malta dedicated to Christ the King was built. This is all according to the document on the chapel.
Like Professor Falzon I too enjoy Dr Giovanni Bonello's contributions.