Maltese and Gozitan personalities and local and international anniversaries are being commemorated on a set of five stamps and a miniature sheet being issued by the Philatelic Bureau of Maltapost plc on Saturday.
The set has been designed by Harry Borg, and has been printed by Printex Limited of Qormi on Maltese Crosses watermarked paper. The stamps are 44mm x 31mm in size, with a perforation of 13.9mm x 14.0mm (comb), and the miniature sheet is 123mm x 86mm in size, with a stamp size of 41.0 x 30.5mm, with a perforation of 13.5 x 13.5 (comb). The stamps feature the 25th anniversary of the Youth Football Association, St Joseph Institute founder Canon Monsignor Professor Francesco Bonnici, the 100th anniversary of the Society of Christian Doctrine, Carolina Cauchi, Gozitan foundress of a Dominican Monastery in Gozo, and Jesuit Father Manwel Magri. The miniature sheet commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.
The Youth Football Association, an offspring of the Educational Sports Centre set up by Fr Hilary Tagliaferro in 1972, is an amalgamation of the Malta FA Junior League and the Under-16 Football Association. The YFA has developed into fully fledged competitions including knock-outs in the Under-16 and Under-14 levels, as well as organised seasonal tournaments in the Under-12, Under-10 and Under-8 levels.
St George Preca set up the Society of Christian Doctrine in 1907, to encourage male and female laypersons to dedicate themselves to God through holy works, and to give religious instruction to children, youths and adults. Today, 100 years later, the society has roots throughout the Maltese Islands, with centres in every town and village, and has also spread its wings in other countries, including Australia with its considerable population of Maltese migrants, and Albania.
Carolina Cauchi, the only daughter of Notary Nicolo' Cauchi and Tereza nee Galea, was born in Senglea in 1824. She was not successful in her attempt to join the contemplative Dominican Order in Italy, and in 1889 she got a group of nine females together who started a Dominican monastic order at the Lunzjata monastery in Victoria, Gozo. This monastery was paid for through funds contributed by Carolina Cauchi, and was given ecclesiastical approval on 6 October, 1889. Carolina Cauchi passed away in Gozo on 17 July, 1907.
Patri Manwel Magri of the Society of Jesus, more commonly referred to as the Jesuit order, was born in Valletta in 1851. After joining the Society of Jesus, he carried out his studies both in Malta and abroad. Father Magri was a pioneer in Maltese ethnography and archaeology, besides being a renowned educator of youth. Father Magri died in 1907.
Canon Monsignor Professor Francesco Bonnici, a philanthropist and founder of St Joseph Institute in Hamrun, was born in Cospicua in 1852, but lived mainly in Mqabba, where he founded what was known as Il-Missjoni z-Zghira. In August of 1888 he set up the first trade school in Malta, to care for orphans, illegitimate and abandoned boys, in a house near Tas-Samra church, naming it Casa di San Giuseppe.
In 1893 he leased from the government a bigger house, known as Il-Palazz l-Ahmar in Hamrun, where the Institute is to be found today, retaining the original name of Casa di San Giuseppe or Istituto Canonico Bonnici. Besides providing shelter, the institute also provided trade training in carpentry, tailoring, bookbinding, printing and shoe-mending. To take care of the resident boys, Canon Bonnici also set up the Congregazione dei Fratelli della Carita', among whom was Dun Alfred Gatt. To raise funds, he founded a monthly periodical, and in 1897 set up the Opera tal-Buona Morti. Canon Bonnici died in Hamrun in 1905.
The European Union was set up with the aim of ending the frequent wars between neighbours, which culminated in the Second World War. From 1950 the European Coal and Steel Community began to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace. The European family was created with the signature of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March, 1957. Fifty years on, this unity is based on common values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and equality.
This set of stamps and miniature sheet will be available, from 29 December, as First Day Covers, in mint or cancelled format, and as Souvenir Folders and Presentation Packs, from all Maltapost postal retail outlets in Malta and Gozo, and from the Maltapost Mobile Unit, and from the Maltapost Philatelic Bureau (tel. 2596-1747, email [email protected]; postal address: 305 Triq Hal-Qormi, Marsa, MTP1001). Additional information on this and forthcoming issues can be obtained from the Maltapost website www.maltapost.com.