Bishop Grech & Gozo Minister visit 150th anniversary Commemorative Exhibition

by Gozo News · October 30, 2014

The Bishop of Gozo Mgr. Mario Grech, together with the Minister for Gozo, Dr Anton Refalo, today visited the commemorative exhibition, being held to mark the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Gozo.

The Exhibition has been organised by the Commission for Sacred Art within the Curia in Gozo, in collaboration with the Ministry for Gozo. Gozo Bishop & Gozo Minister visit 150th anniversary Commemorative Exhibition The exhibition not only focuses on the personalities who have worked in the Diocese, and the events that led to the establishment of the Diocese of Gozo in 1864, but also on the history of the Church on this island over the last one hundred and fifty years. The Diocese was led by eight Bishops and an Apostolic Administrator.

On display are documents and old photographs, publications, silver, sacred pieces, and parameters associated with each Bishop, as well as the recollections of important moments in their episcopate.

Visitors to this exhibition will also have the opportunity to view the original document of The Papal Bull, which is normally housed in the Diocesan Archives.

Pope Pius IX through the Bull Singulari Amore – With utmost love, from the first two words of the document – established the diocese of Gozo on the 16th of September 1864.

Thus in 1864 the dream of a diocese in Gozo finally became a reality, A Bishop, Cathedral and a Seminary. For one hundred and fifty years, the tiny island of about 30,000 people benefited not just from the work of the local church, but with the six hundred parish priest who served within.

The first request for a Gozitan Diocese was made in 1798, by Archpriest Saverio Cassar. After sixty-six years of battle and heartbreak, two illustrious benefactors, Dun Pietru Pace and Sir Adrian Dingli, struggled and attained the wish of the clergy and people of Gozo.

The establishment of the Diocese, which also includes the tiny island of Comino, was officially announced by the Pope on the 22nd of September 1864. The first Bishop was Mons. Michael Francis Buttigieg, from Qala, then the Archpriest of Rabat.

The exhibition, which is free of charge to the public, is taking place at the Exhibition Hall of the Ministry for Gozo, St Francis Square, Victoria and will remain open until Tuesday, the 11th of November 2014, Monday to Friday, between 8.00am and 4.30pm.

A booklet on the exhibition, which is in Maltese, is available for download here.