User:Alekjds/Preca
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| George Preca | |
|---|---|
| Second Apostle of Malta | |
| Born | 12 February 1880, Valletta, Malta |
| Died | 26 July 1962, Santa Venera, Malta |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 9 May 2001, Floriana, Malta[1] by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 26 July |
 Saints Portal |
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Blessed Fr. George Preca (in Maltese: Beatu Dun Ġorġ Preca) (12 February 1880 - 26 July 1962) was a Maltese priest who founded the Society of Christian Doctrine,[a] a society of lay catechists. He is popularly known as the "Second Apostle of Malta" after Saint Paul of Tarsus. His canonization is scheduled for 3 June 2007.[2]
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[edit] Life
[edit] Early life
George Preca was born in Valletta, Malta, on 12 February 1880. He was the seventh of nine children. Early in his childhood, his family moved to Hamrun, where he started serving Mass as an altar boy.[1] Preca studied at the Lyceum, considered the preeminent secondary school in the island.[3] Preca then entered seminary, where he excelled, especially in Latin. He was eventually ordained a deacon. However, he was subsequently diagnosed as suffering from lung failure. The prognosis was not good, and he was even discouraged from buying vestments or a missal in preparation for the priesthood.[1] However, he made remarkable recovery, and was was ordained on 22 December 1906.[3] Preca attributed his cure to the intercession of Saint Joseph, and even joked later in his life that "My father has died, the professor has died and I, with just one lung, am still alive to teach people!"[1]
[edit] Formation of the Society for Christian Doctrine
While still a student, Preca had begun writing a Rule in Latin for use in a society he was planning, which would be a confraternity of "permanent deacons."[b][4] Soon, however, Preca modified this project into a less concretely defined group of well-informed young men who would then be able to spread Christian doctrine on Malta. One young man in particular, Eugene Borg, eventually became the first Superior General of the Preca's society.[3]
On 7 March 1907 Preca rented a house on Fra Diegu Street in Hamrun. It was a small house, and there he began gathering young men and teaching them catechism. It was immediately evident to him that ignorance in religious matters was astonishingly prevalent in Malta. Preca's co-workers in the newly formed Society for Christian Docrine were called, according to hierarchy, Papidi, Apostles, and then Soci. Preca's task was formidable. He directed a society of laymen who, while teaching catechism, needed to be instructed themselves.[1] Furthermore, the very idea of training laymen to spread Church doctrine was considered revolutionary.[3] Some went so far as to accuse Father Preca of insanity.[4]
These fears were the cause of many clashes with the Church curia. In 1909, Preca was ordered to close down all his houses, as the bishops of Malta feared that the laymen trained by his society were not well-educated enough. Soon the curia's order was retracted, but it took until 1932 for Archbishop Mauro Caruana approved the society.[1] Today, the Society consists of approximately 110 centers and 1100 members. Altogether, it is responsible for about 20,000 young men and women in the Maltese islands, in Australia, Peru, the Sudan, United Kingdom, Kenya and Albania.[2]
[edit] Later life
Preca was nominated as a Papal Secret Chamberlain with the title of Monsignor in 1952, but was reportedly unaffected completely, as worldly things did not concern him. In 1961, after a whole lifetime in Hamrun, his failing health forced him to move to his housekeeper's home in Santa Venera, where he eventually died on 26 July 1962.[1]
[edit] Veneration and cause for canonization
Father George Preca came to the attention of the Ordinary Congregation of the Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation for Causes of Saints, which examined the scientifically unexplainable healing of Charles Zammit Endrich in 1964. Endrich had suffered from a detached retina of the left eye. The healing was declared as miraculous, and was attributed to the intercession of the Father George Preca.[1]
On 24 June 1975, Archbishop Michael Gonzi issued a decree initiating the process of Preca's canonization. He was declared "Venerable" on the 28 June 1999, and on 27 January 2000, Pope John Paul II signed the decree which officially confirmed the Endrich healing. That same year, Preca's body was translated from the Hamrun Parish Church where he had been buried to the Society center at Blata l-Bajda. In a ceremony in Floriana, Malta on 9 May 2001, Father Preca was beatified by Pope John Paul II.[1]
[edit] Impending canonization
During the consistory at the Vatican, Father George Preca was proclaimed the first Maltese Catholic saint. He will be canonized in Rome on 3 June 2007 along with three other new saints.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Society of Christian Doctrine is commonly referred to by the acronym "MUSEUM", which stands for the Latin "Magister utinam sequator evangelium universus mundus!", translating to "Master, that the whole world would follow the Gospel!"[4]
- ^ Permanent deacons are deacons that are not candidates for priestly ordination. The purpose that Preca had in mind for the membership of his society would be helping the Maltese bishops in the doctrinal formation of those in their bishoprics.
- ^ For the words of Pope John Paul at the ceremony, see the Vatican press release: In the Footsteps of St. Paul: Papal Visit to Greece, Syria, and Malta. Notably, His Holiness makes parallels to the Society's title (Magister utinam..., etc.) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and refers to Preca as "Malta's second father in faith."
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dun Gorg Preca. Newsmakers in 2001. Malta Today (2001-12-30). Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ a b c "Gorg Preca is officially Malta's first Catholic Saint", MaltaStar, 2007-02-23. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ a b c d Meli, C. Beatu Dun Gorg Preca. Catholichealing.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ a b c Jones, Terry. George Preca. Patron Saints Index. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
