The Church in Gozo yesterday thanked God for the fifteen years of the ministry of E.T. Mons. Mario Grech as Bishop of Gozo. He was consecrated by the hands of his predecessor the late Nikol G. Cauchi on January 22, 2006.

Last October, Pope Francis called him to be the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, an office that Mons. Grech will officially take up in early September.

Bishops Anton Teuma of Gozo, Charles J. Scicluna of Malta and Carmel Zammit of Gibraltar, and the Apostolic Nuncio Alessandro D’Errico, also took part in the Solemn Concelebration of Thanksgiving, which was held at the Parish Rotunda of St. John the Baptist, Xewkija.Present in the front of the congregation was President Dr George Vella and his wife Miriam. The day before, Mons. Grech also paid a visit to the Clergy House, Birkirkara, to Mons. Paul Cremona op, Archbishop Emeritus of Malta, with whom he shared the first years of the episcopate.

At the beginning of the Mass, Bishop Grech apologised to anyone who he “might have failed,” but said he had “never done so with the intention of hurting anyone.”

Inspired by the passage from the Gospel of Matthew (24: 42-51) proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word of the day, in which Jesus calls “blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing his job when he comes,” in his homily Bishop Grech spoke about fidelity to Christ and his word, which he had tried to fulfill as his mission at the helm of the Diocese of Gozo.

In his words, “true fidelity consists in the Church responding to the signs of the times, opening up and changing according to the historical and social circumstances of the moment. This requires discernment from the whole Church together, and the decisions that are taken will not always please everyone, both within and outside it.”Illuminated by the passage from the Acts of the Apostles announced in the First Reading, which recounts the choice of the seven deacons to serve at the tables (6: 1-7), Bishop Grech spoke of the attention during his episcopate that the local Church tried to give to the poor and those on the periphery, “not by welfareism,” he said, “but by charity, some of which structures already existed and continued to be strengthened.”

He mentioned catechesis as one of the pillars of his ministry, especially when it comes to families… and here he referred to the structure created by Fr Anton Teuma, now his successor as Bishop, to accompany couples, even divorced ones, or in a second relationship.

He pointed out that the application of Chapter 8 of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris lætitia together with Archbishop Scicluna “was one of the steps that cost them dearly, but was made in line not only with the Pope’s teachings but also with fidelity to the Gospel.”

The theme of immigration was also dear to Mons. Grech, recalling how in one of the recent crises he and Archbishop Scicluna had offered to welcome a group of immigrants on Church property in Malta and Gozo “to prevent them from being left between heaven and water.”At a time when his heart must be troubled for leaving the Church he loved so much, Bishop Mario said that he is in fact “glad to be leaving the helm of the boat in the hands of a new pastor according to the heart of God and that he is well prepared to lead it.”

He not only greeted Bishop Anton, who more than once called him “my Bishop,” but also the precious memory of Bishop Nikol G. Cauchi who had consecrated him fifteen years ago and who left a precious spiritual legacy to the Diocese.

After communion, Bishop Grech went in front of an image of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu with the incense, while young Laurent Jack Bishop sang Gounod’s Ave Maria. During his episcopate, Mons. Grech had said he worked hard to foster devotion to her, and in fact two years ago he also called for a Marian Year to put the Gozitan people under her mantle.

In a message of thanks on behalf of all the Gozitan clergy, of which a good representation was present for the Mass, Vicar General Mons. Tarcis Camilleri, greeted Mons. Grech, describing him as a “volcano of ideas and proposals,” who “renewed the Church in Gozo in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and helped it open to the awakening of the Holy Spirit, to be more mystical and missionary, and therefore walk in the path of evangelisation that Pope Francis is pointing to.”

“Not everything was perfect,” said Mons. Camilleri, “however, because of the union with Christ the Shepherd, Mons. Grech helped the local Church mature while he himself grew up with it.”

He wished him well in the remaining mission of the Pope, and at the end of the message, Mons. Paul Cardona, Episcopal Vicar for the Clergy, presented to him on behalf of the clergy a gift of stained-glass worked on an original design and artisanal realisation by Barbara Ferabecoli of the Febart-Line Studio di Progettazione d’Arte Monumentale of Rome, with the image of Christ who walked with his disciples and shared with them the bread – his motto In Fractione Panis – `During the breaking of bread.’

As a reminder of the occasion, the guests, including representatives from all areas of the Diocese and other Churches, were given a Maltese copy of the Evangelii gaudium, the first Exhortation of Pope Francis, which in the words of Mons. Grech, “is not a simple book,” but the “magna carta” of the current Pope.

The Mass was animated by singing from the Cappella Sanctæ Mariæ Assumptæ of the Gozo Cathedral, under the direction of its Master Mro Carmel P. Grech, who is also the brother of Bishop Grech, accompanied on the majestic organ. of the Rotunda by famous English organist Wayne Marshall. They performed the Mass in G major op. 336 of J.L. Battmann.

The Mass was broadcast live on television and social media.

The next event in the programme of the Official Inauguration of the Episcopal Ministry of Fr Anton Teuma will be his Solemn Entrance in the Cathedral of Gozo, on the 16th of September, at 6.30pm.

Photos: Gozo Diocese/Anthony Grech

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