Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/656590
4 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2016 News Guzeppi Mercieca: man of few words A man of principle armed with an admirable determination to get his message across, Mercieca faced off political thugs and the church schools crisis, and saw the Church take its place in the brave new world of broadcasting MARTINA BORG MIRIAM DALLI ARCHBISHOP Guzeppi Mer- cieca spent 27 years at the helm of the Maltese Church, leading it through difficult times and build- ing bridges with society. But, out of everything, he will be remem- bered for his kind, passionate and calm demeanour, and one who made it a point to always find time to visit the sick in hospital. It was Mercieca who in 1983 faced threats by the government, led by then Labour's mercurial prime minister, Dom Mintoff, of seizing most of the Church's property. It was a time when the Vatican Secretariat of State was holding regular meetings with Mintoff on property and educa- tion issues. The relations were strained and Mintoff had ceased communica- tion with Mercieca after earlier calling him a hypocrite. Then, in September 1984, dockyard work- ers attacked the Archbishop's Cu- ria, tearing paintings and break- ing glass, furniture and statues. "Mintoff had called Mercieca as they sought to find a solution to their disagreements. Mercieca was then adamant that either all schools opened, or none. At the same time, Mintoff didn't want all Church schools to remain closed," recalled il-Hajja's former editor, Charles Buttigieg. Il-Hajja was the daily newspaper subsidised by the Archdiocese of Malta. At the time, the government was gripped by the Church schools crisis, and had withheld the li- cences of eight Church schools because it wanted the Church to agree to a number of conditions. The Church and parents found these conditions unjust and in- sisted on the re-opening of the schools. "The final decision lay with Mercieca. He had listened to all stakeholders but it was up to him to make the final call. He want- ed to be alone when he made up his mind, and so he went to the chapel. When he returned, he had decided not to reopen the schools because he didn't want anyone to get hurt," Buttigieg said. "After the attack, Mintoff reached out but Mercieca had not changed his mind on reopening the schools." While children were home- schooled and people grew impa- tient over the impasse, Mercieca would be pondering on what solu- tion could be found. "He had strength in his silence. People thought it was a weakness, that he wasn't acting on it. In real- ity, he would be thinking deep on a durable solution. He would lis- ten a lot and reflect a lot. He was a man of principle who didn't wish harm to anyone and always acted for the greater good. He sacrificed a lot," Buttigieg told MaltaToday. Then, on 12 November, 1984, Mercieca came up with a proposal that was to mark the beginning of the end of the fight between the church and the state. "Mintoff had liked Mercieca's proposal and within seven days discussions and negotiations had started to reach a solution." In fact, in his memoirs, Mercieca reveals how Mintoff started invit- ing him to regular private meals at his residence in Delimara, l- Gharix, which helped heal the rift between church and state in the mid-1980s. President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami remembers the day when the Curia had been ransacked. "One of my clearest memories is when we had information about an imminent attack on the Curia in Floriana," Fenech Adami said, adding that he had called Mercie- ca to alert him of the imminent at- tack. The Curia lay across the road from the police headquarters. Fenech Adami described Mer- cieca as "a man of few words", but someone whose strong determi- nation and moral fibre he had al- ways admired. Fenech Adami told MaltaTo- day that he had known Mercieca personally for many years, and that he had always admired his "determination and strength of character", which shone through the many experiences he had been through. Fr Joe Borg, his former commu- nications officer, described Mer- cieca's reaction to the attack as "emblematic of his personality in general". Echoing Fenech Adami's com- ments, Mercieca had not "made a fuss" or "risked escalating the situation" by having a strong, im- passioned reaction. "He had kept a cool head and never said anything that might have made the situation worse," Borg said, adding that his first reaction upon visiting the vandal- ised site, was to pray for the for- giveness of the attackers. Mercieca then went on to ask those at the Curia to provide re- freshments to the police officers who had been on site in the after- math of the attack. "He was always concerned about the comfort of others and he al- ways made sure not to say any- thing to escalate already fragile situations," he said, stressing that Mercieca had led the Church with great prudence at a particularly difficult and turbulent time. Borg added that however cau- tious his actions had been, Mer- cieca had always had an admirable determination to get his message Cortège held in Valletta, funeral today A cortège for Guzeppi Mercie- ca was held on Monday after- noon, which started from the late Archbishop's hometown of Zejtun and arrived in Valletta after 5pm. A prayer service by Archbish- op Charles Scicluna followed the cortège as several dozens waited outside the Co-Cathe- dral where the Archbishop is lying in repose. Among those present was Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela. "I hope that Mercieca's spirit of reconciliation, that so de- fined him – the way he showed that reason doesn't require force or violence – I hope that this can be the basis of the rela- tionship between the State and the Church," Scicluna said. "Although we live in a plural- istic society, the Church still has a voice that needs to be heard." The public is invited to pay their last respects at St John's Co-Cathedral today between 9am and 12 noon. Archbishop Scicluna deliv- ered a prayer service at the co- cathedral at 6pm yesterday and the funeral mass by him will be held at 4pm today, preceding a cortège along Republic Street to City Gate. A private burial will take place at the Mdina Cathedral. Mercieca died Monday morn- ing, aged 87, at his private Ze- jtun residence. He had led the Maltese archdiocese for three decades – between 1976 and 2006. The body of Archbishop Guzeppi Mercieca lying in state in St John's Cathedral under Caravaggio's masterpiece The Beheading of St John