Monsignor Joseph Galea Curmi, the current Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Malta, has been officially appointed Auxiliary Bishop.

Announcing the appointment on Saturday morning, Apostolic Nuncio Alessandro d'Errico said Archbishop Charles Scicluna’s responsibilities required him to frequently travel abroad, as with his recent mission to Chile as papal envoy in connection with child abuse cases.

He said the new Auxiliary Bishop would assist not only during such absences but also with the day-to-day running of the archdiocese.

The Apostolic Nuncio said Mgr Galea Curmi was already well-known and respected for his work within the Church and civil society.

As Auxiliary Bishop, Mgr Galea Curmi, 54, will be the Archbishop’s closest collaborator and advisor, with leadership responsibilities in the Curia and in diocesan pastoral ministry.

Mgr Galea Curmi thanked the Archbishop and Pope Francis for the faith they had shown in him and pledged to carry out his duties with “generosity, love and an open heart”, while praising Mgr Scicluna for his “wise and compassionate” leadership.

In brief comments following his appointment, he also spoke of the need to “cherish life”, having earlier this week expressed dismay, while celebrating mass, at “human lives that are frozen for many years”.

On his episcopal ordination, which will take place in August, Monsignor Galea-Curmi will become a member of the Maltese Episcopal Conference alongside the Archbishop and the Gozo Bishop Mario Grech.

Photo: Jonathan Borg

So who is Mgr Galea Curmi?

Born in Birkirkara, on January 1, 1964, he is the third of six children.
He was educated at Stella Maris School, Balzan, at the Secondary School of St Paul’s Missionary College, Rabat, and at St Aloysius College (Sixth Form), Birkirkara. He entered the Archbishop’s Seminary in 1982.

After completing his studies and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Faculty of Theology, he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood by the Archbishop of Malta, Monsignor Joseph Mercieca, on 5 July 1991.

Mgr Galea Curmi was sent to further his studies at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and obtained a doctorate in Pastoral Theology in 1998. 

After his studies in Rome, Mgr Galea Curmi was appointed assistant to the Pastoral Secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta and lecturer in Pastoral Theology at the University of Malta, where he lectures till today. He was also the coordinator of the Archdiocesan Synod held between 1999 and 2003.

In 2005 he was appointed board member of the Diocesan Institute for Pastoral Formation, and ecclesiastical assistant of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation (Malta) since 2008, till today.

In 2015, Archbishop Scicluna appointed Mgr Galea Curmi Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Malta and Canon of the Cathedral Chapter.

He carries out pastoral ministry at the Parish of the Annunciation in Balzan.