'The Origins of Maltese Statehood'
Author: Henry Frendo
Publisher: BDL Publications Ltd / 1999
Pages: 728
Already in 1956 Archbishop Michael Gonzi had told Eugene Melville, an assistant under the secretary of state at the Commonwealth Office that peace could be kept in Malta "with two machine guns in Garrison Square" and that the best time in Malta's history was the time of Crown Colony Government.
Then the British government had given way to Mintoff's threats .... who had stirred up trouble and misled and browbeaten the British government .... who, because of a wrong analogy with Cyprus, had exaggerated fears of trouble in Malta.
In the 1950s and even more in the 1960s, Gonzi had emerged as the champion of Malta, more than the dormant Nationalist Party led by George Borg Olivier.
Led by a Junta of Catholic organisations, mass rallies started to be organised, attracting huge crowds and the presence of Gonzi was welcomed with fervent enthusiasm.
Even normal Church functions, such as Confirmations, were turned into mass demonstrations of support.
Gonzi and Mintoff went into full-combat mode. They hurled abuse at each other. Gonzi even said he was ready to go to jail in defence of his principles.
The 1962 election was thus held in a Church-dictated environment - those who voted for Mintoff were considered as heretics, their houses were not blessed at Easter time, they were not allowed to receive the sacraments and, when they died they were not allowed to be buried in the consecrated part of the cemetery but in a patch that was immediately labeled by the church-goers as "the rubbish tip".
Thus, when in 1963 Malta's Independence drew near, the Labour Party in Malta and whole sections of the British Parliament tried hard to avoid a repetition of 1962.
The Church side would have wanted a guarantee in the Independence Constitution that the Church was free from laws in the exercise of her role.
This was taken up by Herbert Ganado, leader of a small party of Nationalist rebels. Two priests, Fr Joseph Bernard, a Jesuit, and Can. Benny Tonna, were sent to London to explain this claim that so jarred with British sensibility, but then even the two priests changed tack.
Meanwhile the Vatican itself, with the Second Vatican Council proclaiming freedom of belief, tried to soften the archbishop's hard stance with a lot of tact, given the archbishop's great age.
Gonzi, a diminutive figure, was one of the founders of the Labour Party. Then he became Bishop of Gozo. He was not supported by the British government when the See of Malta became vacant but this did not discourage him. He managed to persuade the farmers of Gozo to bring out of hiding the crops they had hidden to alleviate the threat of hunger.
The thankful Brits allowed him to become Archbishop of Malta. They even appointed him as Major General in the British Army and those of my age can probably remember him when passing by after a celebration in St John's (accompanied by a retinue dressed in 17th century uniforms) the British soldiers mounting guard at the Main Guard would hurriedly present arms.
Gonzi was strict with his priests and many times stopped his car to berate a poor priest not wearing his hat.
He was always welcomed at British official receptions.
So it was no surprise that in 1963 he told many of his interlocutors that he considered the referendum as indecisive and he seemed to think Malta needed to return to direct government by the British Crown.
But Borg Olivier wanted Independence for Malta and at the end his patient diplomacy delivered. On 21 September 1964 Malta became independent and Archbishop Gonzi read out a prayer to the Almighty just before midnight when the Maltese flag replaced the Union Jack.
Archbishop Gonzi remained at the helm until that day in 1977 when the priests of Malta refused to read out in the churches his appeal for leniency for the hotheads who had torched most of the Nationalist clubs the day after the 1976 election.