Paul Pace, SJ, writes:
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” These must have certainly been the words with which Jesus greeted Fr Arthur G. Vella as he entered life eternal last Sunday.
Fr Arthur was indeed a good and faithful servant. He was a true servant of others, especially those in need of a listening ear and some sound advice. He was blessed with a great facility at befriending people and creating trust, and he put this ability to good use to help innumerable people from all walks of life who came to him seeking help for all sorts of issues and problems.
His gentle understanding of others was the outer packaging of a deep and compassionate wisdom of life, which in turn inspired openness in the other.
Those of us who lived with him know he was available at all times of the day and night, to all and sundry. I remember how difficult it was to convince him to take better care of himself during his short visits to Malta from Rome; he used to meet between 30 and 40 people – besides the innumerable phone calls – in what was supposed to be a week of rest.
Fr Arthur was also a true servant of the Church and of the Society of Jesus, which he loved so much. In his younger days he served by being in leadership roles.
At the young age of 36 he was chosen to be Provincial of the Maltese Jesuits, at a time of considerable turmoil both in the post-Vatican II Church and in the Society of Jesus.
He was also rector at the College of the Gesù, the college for international Jesuit students in Rome, and in the 1980s, rector at the Gozo Seminary.
For six years he headed the Ignatian Spirituality Centre at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome.
Like Ignatius of Loyola, Fr Arthur was especially sensitive to the pastoral importance of the university world. In the early 1970s, shortly after the University of Malta moved to Tal-Qroqq, he was instrumental in founding Dar Manwel Magri, the Jesuit house just outside the university gate, and the home of the university chaplain. This was the house he loved, where he lived nearly until the very end, for there he found a rich world of pastoral contacts and friendships.
He felt equally at home with young students as with University professors and administrators, with technical and domestic staff alike.
Another typically Jesuit concern of Fr Arthur was the clergy and religious, from their selection through to their formation and accompaniment during their years of pastoral work.
For decades he was involved in the screening of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life, and he prepared many generations of young priests for the ministry of hearing confessions.
For close to 40 years he spent his Monday mornings at Fawwara, where a group of priests used to meet for a time of reflection and fraternal relaxation.
Many priests, seminarians and religious found in Fr Arthur a wise and holy spiritual director, the person to turn to in difficult times.
He was also very keen to have a regular and active contact with parish life, collaborating for many years first at Żebbuġ, and then at Sgħajtar.
The source of the energy and stamina for all this, and much more, was his relationship with God, the foundation of his whole life. The time he dedicated every day to his silent prayer, and the Mass he celebrated with such devotion, were certainly what made him so available and so capable of helping others in their quest for God and His will.
Fr Arthur was someone who touched so many lives in so many different ways, and those of us who benefitted from his wisdom and holiness certainly feel sad at his passing away.
Yet we can feel even more blessed and grateful. We can rest assured that he will still be doing his best to show his care for us all.