Seating for nearly 3,500 guests to Mgr Paul Cremona’s episcopal ordination will be set up under two tents in St George’s Square, Valletta, and in front of St John’s co-Cathedral, the Archbishop’s Curia announced yesterday.
Mgr Cremona will be ordained archbishop on Friday 26 January.
The Curia said seating in St George’s Square will be open to the public while places in St John’s Square will be reserved for those with an invitation or identification approved by the Curia.
Screens will be put up in both squares to allow people to follow the ceremony inside the cathedral.
The archbishop’s pastoral secretary and president of the organising committee, Fr Charles Cordina, explained in detail the arrangements for the ordination.
Mgr Cremona will arrive at the Dominican Friary in Valletta at 4.25pm where he will join the Dominican friars at the Our Lady of Fair Havens church for evening vespers.
At 5pm, an open-top car will take him along Merchants Street to Castille Place, down Girolamo Cassar Avenue, towards the Valletta Terminus and City Gate. Along Merchants Street, he will be accompanied by the King’s Own Band and the police.
From City Gate to St John’s Square, Mgr Cremona will be joined by the La Valette band and members of the Police Cavalry section.
When he arrives in St John’s Square, the Valletta brass bands will play the Hymn and Pontifical March.
The ordination ceremony will be led by Archbishop Joseph Mercieca, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Felix del Blanco Prieto and Dominican bishop Mgr Gorg Frendo.
Eve of ordination
On the eve of Mgr Cremona’s ordination, and his 61st birthday, a prayer meeting will be held at the Mdina Cathedral. At 4.30pm, he will be taken by car from the Dominican friary in Sliema through Gzira, Ta’ Xbiex, Msida, Guardamangia, Hamrun, Sta Venera, Fleur-de-Lys, Attard and Rabat. Mgr Cremona will stop in each village for a few minutes to meet parishioners.
When he arrives at Mdina, around 6pm, he will be welcomed by the mayor and escorted to Cathedral Square where a tent and seating for 900 will be set up, Fr Cordina said.
During the prayer meeting in the cathedral, his mitre, crosier and ring will be blessed.
Fr Cordina said a number of activities are being organised throughout this week and the next to mark the end of Mgr Mercieca’s episcopate and Mgr Cremona’s ordination.
This Thursday, Archbishop Joseph Mercieca will celebrate a thanksgiving Mass at Saint John’s co-Cathedral at 6.30pm. The celebration will be open to the public and extra seating and monitors will be available. A big screen will be set up in St John’s Square.
The following day, Mgr Mercieca will attend celebrations marking the 550th anniversary of the founding of the Capranica College in Rome. Mgr Mercieca had lived and studied in that seminary.
On Sunday, Mgr Merciecea will celebrate Mass at St John’s co-Cathedral at 6.30pm for couples who were married in 2006. At 10am Mgr Cremona will meet children at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre (MFCC).
On Wednesday 24 January he will celebrate Mass for journalists at the Catholic Institute at 6pm on the occasion of the feast of patron saint St Francis De Sales.
Fr Cordina said that Mgr Cremona will be meeting young people in Paceville on Saturday. He will walk from Baystreet to St Julian’s parish church where singing and a discussion will be held. At 11pm, he will be accompanied by young people through Paceville to the Millennium Chapel where prayers will be said.