A report in local media that the Paola titular statue was to be replaced for the sake of a new band club being opened shocked the family of the celebrated sculptor, Ganni Bonnici, because it was the first they had heard of any of it. The family has yet to let the 83 year-old know of the news as they are afraid of the effect it might have on his health after previous incidents.

In 1993, the late Archbishop Emeritus, Guzeppi Mercieca, gave permission to the Paola parish to commission a statue of Christ the King for festivities and processions. After a number of years and designs coming and going, in 1997 Mr Bonnici was contacted by a priest from the parish, the late Can. George Deguara to submit a design for approval.

Eventually Mr Bonnici’s model was viewed and approved by the vast majority of parishioners and subsequently by the Commission for Sacred Art of the diocese. The finished statue then arrived at the parish on 19 October 1999.

At the same time, a separate, much more ornate, statue of Christ the King made by statuary Alfred Camilleri Cauchi was gifted to the GM De Paule Band Club.

This Sunday, the Ghaqda Socjali Muzikali Kristu Sultan, which is being recognized as an official band club, is going to be given a welcome on the condition from the GM De Paule Band Club that their Christ the King statue be made the titular statue of Paola. This means that Mr Bonnici’s statue will now be confined to being inside the church, even though it was commissioned specifically for feasts and chosen for its minimalist style, rather than regal decorations.

Can. Marc Andre Camilleri, Paola parish priest, spoke to The Malta Independent after it was contacted by Mrs Pauline Bonnici about the whole issue. “Such matters are dealt with by the respective parish priest in consultation with the Church authorities, in the best interest of the parishioners. With regards to this particular matter a decision was taken in order to resolve an issue which has been pending for 17 years.

“As a result, the Kristu Sultan Band Club will be officially recognised and the Socjeta de Paule will be offering a statue which will now be used as the titular statue.

“I would like to clarify that the statue which was designed by Mr Bonnici is owned by the parish and it will not be altered in any way. It is also worth noting that this is not the first time that the titular statue was changed, and that the request to change the existing statue was made in 2012 by an action group made up of various groups in Paola. The decision to change the statue was taken following consultation with both religious groups and civil society within the parish.”

Mrs Bonnici alleged that she contacted the archbishop directly since he and her husband were well acquainted in the past and asked him why the sculptor was never told about any decision, and she was met with fruitless indifference. TMI tried to contact the archbishop, both directly and through the diocese’s communication’s office, but by the time of going to print, this newsroom has had no response.

 As a direct message to Archbishop Scicluna, the impassioned woman wrote, “I would like to thank His Excellency for his wrongdoings serving as an embarrassment to my husband. Ever since you were his student and even nowadays, he has nothing but praise for you remembering fondly how, when you were his student, he used to tell you that you would one day become archbishop. There is only God who still needs to judge you for all you have done. You have killed one of his children – because that is how my husband considers his statues, his children – so as to get into other peoples’ good books.”