The Pope had accepted the resignation of the local bishop, Mgr Adhemar Esquivel, and at a ceremony in Tarija cathedral, Fr Brincat took the oath of office to lead the diocese until the appointment of a new bishop.

Fr Brincat went to Tarija in 1999 and was parish priest of San Roque. For the past three years he has also performed the duties of Vicar General. Previously, he had spent 22 years in Colombia.

Fr Brincat (brother of our sports editor Henry Brincat), was born in Santa Venera in 1942. He studied at the Lyceum and joined the Carmelite Order in 1957. He made his first profession in 1958 and his solemn profession in 1963. He was ordained priest in 1965.

He studied in Rome and obtained licentiates in theology (1965) and Sacred Scriptures (1969).

The Maltese Carmelite Province has been providing its services and priests to the church in Bolivia since 1956.