Overwhelmingly Catholic Malta, her faith going back to the early days of Christianity when the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked here and gave us our religion, yesterday celebrated the news that a Maltese was at last being made a saint.

All Maltese Catholics rejoiced – the humble, well-liked Monsignor they know better as Dun Gorg will be elevated to sainthood on Sunday 3 June at the Vatican after the consistory of cardinals yesterday gave its assent to the sanctification of Mgr Gorg Preca and four other blesseds.

The consistory, a meeting of the cardinals in Rome, was called by Pope Benedict XVI after he endorsed a decree of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints which approved the second miracle attributed to Dun Gorg, who founded the Society for Christian Doctrine, MUSEUM, in Malta.

MUSEUM is the acronym of Dun Gorg’s Latin motto Magister Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus Mundus – “Master, may the whole world follow the Gospel”. Dun Gorg’s canonisation will fittingly be made in the year marking the centenary of his society, which he founded on 7 March 1907.

It has been a very long road – the cause for the sanctification of Dun Gorg started in 1975 after the miraculous healing of a Charles Zammit Endrich on 3 February 1964 was attributed to him.

The second miracle, which centres around the healing of a baby boy with the intercession of Dun Gorg Preca, goes back to July 2001, two months after the Monsignor was beatified by Pope John Paul II on his second pastoral visit to Malta.

According to the Curia, the baby developed liver complications and was treated by paediatricians at St Luke’s Hospital. The child’s condition worsened and he was taken for specialised treatment at King’s College Hospital in London.

On 14 July, the doctors said the baby needed a liver transplant, and that it was its only hope of survival; however, a donor liver reserved for the baby was found to be incompatible. At the end of their wits, the parents prayed to Blessed Dun Gorg Preca to intercede on the baby’s behalf and the child was touched with a glove used in the exhumation of Dun Gorg’s body.

On 20 July, the baby’s condition improved and its liver started to function properly. Four days later, the doctors decided the baby boy no longer needed a transplant. Today, the child is a healthy five-year-old and attends school regularly.

In July 2004, the Maltese ecclesiastical authorities began studying the case to decide whether it should be passed on to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in Rome.

On 17 December 2004, the congregation decided that the process begun in Malta was valid and on 23 February last year, medical experts gave their favourable opinion on the baby’s case. On 30 October 2006, the congregation’s theologians gave their nihil obstat and this led to the approval by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Wednesday 10 January 2007, endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 February.

Dun Gorg Preca left an indelible mark on Maltese society and contributed immensely to the evangelisation of the Gospel among children and youth in society.

Born in Valletta on 12 February 1880, Gorg was the seventh child in a middle-class family of nine. His father, Vincent Preca, was first a merchant and then a sanitary inspector. His mother, Nathalie Ceravolo, was a teacher.

Feeling that he was being called to join the priesthood, he moved from the lyceum to the seminary where as a young student he distinguished himself in his studies, especially in Latin.

One priest, Fr Ercole Mompalao, recognised certain qualities in Gorg and said to him: “Preca, you will grow up and will be befriended by people who respect God. You will be blessed because of them, and they because of you...”

His ordination seemed in jeopardy as Gorg, who had been sickly throughout his childhood, suffered from a diseased lung. However, the young cleric was to live to celebrate his first Mass in December 1906 and to die at the venerable age of 82.

As a seminarian, he used to go to the Grand Harbour, board the foreign ships there, and introduce himself to Greek, English and French sailors by offering them a cigarette.

He used the same tactic with a group of youngsters in Hamrun. Knowing that they were in the habit of meeting together regularly, Dun Gorg Preca struck up a steady friendship with them, slipping in spiritual advice in their conversations. Soon the group of youths who met in the vicinity of the St Caetan parish church grew so much that premises had to be rented where their meetings could be held.

At the time, the Church kept a wary eye on all new activities and organisations, fearing that heretic teaching would spread and damage the official doctrine. When word came to the ears of the Vicar General, Mgr Salvatore Grech, that a group of youths was meeting regularly to talk about God, alarm bells started ringing.

This concern was compounded by the fact that many people were flocking to hear this priest, and his followers, talk about God in a simple and clear way. To top it all, Dun Gorg also opened a female section.

According to the society’s biography of Dun Gorg, he was concerned with the precariousness and shallowness of the Maltese people’s religious beliefs, realising that the congregation’s knowledge was not based on a solid grounding in the scriptures and that it was therefore open to easy influence by dubious forces and opinions.

Well-organised catechetical teaching did not exist for the common people and Dun Gorg believed that they had to be taught from the Bible, in order for them to be convinced of their beliefs.

“Using his charismatic force and personality, he wielded a silent army for Christ: men and women who, without radically distinguishing themselves from common people by dress or uniform, would nevertheless be so well instructed and formed in their spiritual life that they would quietly shine forth before others with their example in their everyday life, whether at home or at work,” the society describes the rationale behind Dun Gorg’s activity.

From these small group meetings, the Society of Christian Doctrine, better known as MUSEUM, came into being. Today, there are over 100 MUSEUM centres and it has 1,100 members who teach around 20,000 boys and girls in Malta, Gozo, Australia, Peru, the Sudan, the United Kingdom, Kenya and Albania.

Despite the good work that Dun Gorg and his followers were doing, he still found strong opposition from fellow priests and the Church. However, his determination and faith paid off. Those who were against him soon found themselves trusting him and encouraging his society to grow.

Dun Gorg is also responsible for the Maltese tradition of holding processions with statues of Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. The first procession was held on Christmas Eve of 1921 in Hamrun. The practice spread fairly quickly and has become a regular fixture in Christmas festivities in Malta. He also wished that no family would remain without a crib and a statue of the Holy Child, so he encouraged MUSEUM members to give every child attending their centres a crib with a baby Jesus to take home.

On 20 October 1952, Dun Gorg was appointed Monsignor, an appointment which he never accepted, owing to his humble persona.

Dun Gorg passed away on 26 July 1962 at about 7.45pm. Some 20,000 people attended his funeral in Hamrun.

The consistory also approved the canonisation of four other blesseds.

In separate statements issued yesterday evening, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition Leader Alfred Sant expressed their satisfaction at the news of the canonisation of Dun Gorg Preca.

In a letter addressed to the MUSEUM Superior General Victor Delicata, Dr Gonzi said that the canonisation was a result of a long history of Christian values deeply embedded in Maltese culture.

“Dun Gorg was one of the leading personalities that shaped the history of our country in the last century through his commitment to education and pastoral work,” said Dr Gonzi. He pointed out that he taught and wrote using the Maltese language at a time when Maltese was not used in schools let alone written.

“Throughout the last century, the Society of Christian Doctrine has continued to grow and became one of the leading forces in shaping the Christian, social and civic values of Maltese youths and children,” he said.

In his statement, Dr Sant said Dun Gorg was a humble man with simple needs. “His life is an example to all Maltese and Gozitans, who can aspire to success to their visions, with all the limitations of a small island,” said Dr Sant. Spirituality was the mark on which Dun Gorg lead a good and exemplary life, he added.

Dr Sant pointed out that Dun Gorg was close to the workers and their families and said he admired how he remained so until the very end.

“I firmly believe that as a saint, Dun Gorg will remain close to Maltese and Gozitan families and will be a ray of hope for all those who are forgotten, suffering and downtrodden by arrogance,” he said.