Paul Cremona

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Paul Cremona
Senior posting
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
See	Malta
Title	Archbishop of Malta, Papal Count
Period in office	2007-
Consecration	26 January 2007
Predecessor	Joseph Mercieca
Religious career
Priestly ordination	1963
Previous post	Dominican friar
Personal
Date of birth	January 25, 1946 (1946-01-25) (age 62)
Place of birth	Valletta

Mgr Paul Cremona O.P. (in Maltese: Monsinjur Pawlu Cremona), (born January 25, 1946 in Valletta, Malta) is the 11th and current Archbishop of Malta. He was ordained on January 26, 2007, the day after his 61st birthday.^[1]

Prior to his ordination, Fr Paul Cremona was a Dominican friar.

[edit] History

Mgr Cremona was born in Valletta on January 25, 1946, to Joseph and Josephine née Cauchi. He has two siblings: an elder brother and a younger sister. He was educated at the Montesseori School in Valletta and at the Lyceum in Ħamrun.^[2]

In September 1962, Fr Cremona joined the Dominican Order, and was proffered on September 29, 1963. He studied philosophy and theology at the College of St Thomas Aquinas at the Dominican priory at Rabat, and was ordained as priest on March 22, 1969.

After his ordination, Mgr Cremona was sent to follow higher studies in Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome where, in 1973, he graduated Doctor in Theology presenting the thesis The Concept of Peace in Pope John XXIII.

From 1974 to 1980, he was prior at the convent of Our Lady of the Grotto at Rabat. He was re-elected to the same office in 1997 and served up to 2003. In 1981, he was chosen Provincial of the Maltese Dominicans, an office he held for two four-year terms.

In 1989 he was appointed parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima in Gwardamangia, Pietà where he served until 1993; he then became responsible for the formation of Dominican novices and students at Rabat, an office he again held between 2004 and 2005. In 2005, Mgr Cremona become parish priest of Jesus of Nazareth in Sliema.

Mgr Cremona held other offices in the archdiocese, including Archbishop's Delegate for Consecrated Life, assistant spiritual director at the Seminary at Tal-Virtù, Rabat, member of the Presbyterial Council, and president of the Council of Maltese Religious Major Superiors (KSMR). In 2007 Mgr Cremona was appointed Grand Prior (for Malta) of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem with the rank of Knight Grand Officer.

Mgr Cremona is invited every year to preach Lenten sermons in different parishes and churches. He has been sought regularly by a great number of religious and lay people particularly by married couples, for spiritual direction, and to hear Confessions.

He has written a good number of books dealing with theology and spirituality, including writings on the Creed and the Commandments and four books he wrote jointly with Fr George Frendo, OP, now a bishop in Albania.

[edit] Ordination

Mgr Cremona was announced as the new bishop-elect on December 2, 2006.

The ordination took place on January 26 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Valletta. The Mass with the rites of ordination was led by the outgoing Archbishop of Malta, Joseph Mercieca, who was the principal consecrator, assisted by the Apostolic Nuncio Mgr Felix del Blanco Prieto and Mgr George Frendo OP, a longtime friend of Mgr Cremona, and Auxiliary Bishop of Tirana-Durres in Albania. Hundreds of priests concelebrated, while two large tents were erected in the city for the many who could not enter the Co-Cathedral.

When the nomination of Mgr Cremona was made public on December 2 2006, Apostolic Nuncio Felix del Blanco Priete announced to journalists and the Presbyterian council meeting at the Curia in Floriana: "Pope John Paul II was received in Malta with unforgettable enthusiasm as 'the second [Saint] Paul'. Today as per mandate of Pope Benedict XVI the diocese is being entrusted to another Paul."

The new Archbishop invoked Bishop Saint Augustine: "For you I am a Bishop but with you I am a Christian."