In his 2009 Letter to Priests on the occasion of the Jubilee Year for Priests, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that, from St John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars priests can learn to put their unfailing trust in the Sacrament of Penance, to set it once more at the centre of their pastoral concerns and to take up the "dialogue of salvation" which it entails.

What Pope Benedict had to say regarding St John Mary Vianney, quickly brings to my mind two humble Maltese brothers and priests, both known as tireless and admired confessors: Bishop Emanuel Galea and his brother Francesco.

In his time the Cure of Ars was able to transform the hearts and the lives of so many people because he enabled them to experience the Lord's merciful love. I believe Bishop Galea and his brother Dun Franġisk followed in his footsteps.

Bishop Galea, who died 50 years ago, on 21 August 1974, was renowned for his zeal to announce the word of God through preaching, teaching and writing, as well as a man of prayer and charity. However, Mgr Galea and his brother, also known as Il-Penitenzier, were perhaps above all apostles of the confessional.

Indeed, throughout all his priestly life until his death, Mgr Galea was well known for his disposition to hear confessions. For him, this was a priority. He used to make himself available to one and all. Practically every day he would hear confessions at the Chapel of the Jesus of Nazareth Institute in Żejtun. On Saturdays, on the eve of holidays of obligation and of the First Friday of the month he would hear confessions for around five hours in the afternoon.

From Senglea to Żejtun

Emanuel Galea was born at Senglea on 10 March 1891. He was the youngest child in a very religious family of five children: three boys and two daughters. He and his brother Francesco were ordained priests on 18 December 1915. Their elder brother Salvatore was already a priest.

In 1919, he continued his postgraduate studies at the Gregorian University in Rome where he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law. On his return to Malta he was appointed Prefect of Studies and Professor of Latin Literature at the Archbishop's Seminary. In 1930, he became Professor of Canon Law at the Royal University of Malta. During the same year, Archbishop Mauro Caruana appointed him secretary general at the Curia and Defender of the Bond of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal. Ten years later, Archbishop Caruana appointed him his Vicar General.

In 1933, Archbishop Caruana asked Mgr Galea to serve as the director of the Institute of Jesus of Nazareth at Żejtun, run by the Missionary Sisters of Jesus of Nazareth. Their congregation was founded by Giuseppina Curmi, with the aim of taking care of the orphans she had initially started gathering together in her large family house in Żejtun.

Giuseppina was a pious woman born in Valletta to Dr Paolo Curmi in 1865 who moved his family to Żejtun, where in 1890 he became mayor. Indeed, his daughter's orphanage became known as tas-Sindku. The father passed away in 1890. His daughter's congregation obtained episcopal approval in April 1934.

The assignment to take under his directorship this institute gave Mgr Galea a golden opportunity to dedicate himself better to something very much close to his heart: helping poor children and the needy. There were times when the institute used to shelter up to 200 children after World War II. Mgr Galea continued to be the "padre" of the institute until his death. 

At the time of his Jesus of Nazareth Institute appointment, Mgr Galea was living with his family at Tarxien where his elder brother, Fr Salvatore, was parish priest. When the latter died in 1935, the family returned to Senglea but in 1939 they moved to Żejtun because of World War II.

In 1940, Mgr Galea became Vicar General and on 9 June 1942, at the request of the old Archbishop Mauro Caruana, Pope Pius XII appointed him Titular Bishop of Tralles in Asia and Auxiliary Bishop of Malta. He was ordained bishop by Archbishop Caruana himself, assisted by Bishop Michael Gonzi of Gozo, at the Cathedral in Mdina on 5 July 1942.

When Mgr Gonzi became Archbishop of Malta, he confirmed Mgr Galea both as Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop.

Mgr Galea's assiduous work as a bishop included his participation in the Second Vatican Council, from 1962 to 1965.

 

Personal experience

My first direct contact with Bishop Emanuel Galea was when he conferred on me the Sacrament of Confirmation, at the age of seven, at the Żejtun Parish Church. I was too young then to really know anything substantial about him, except that he was a wise and saintly priest, used to live at the Jesus of Nazareth Institute in Żejtun, was the brother of a priest known as Il-Penitenzier, and was the mind and heart behind a big mechanical crib at the Jesus of Nazareth Institute, which opened its doors for the first time in 1947, the year I was born.

Then, as a young boy, I used to go to Bishop Galea for confession on Saturday afternoons, along with so many other Żejtun children of the time. He used to hear boys' confessions from the front of the confessional, but heard girls' confessions only from the confessional's sides. If a male adult would turn up indicating that he wanted to confess, in his own good time Mgr Galea used to retreat to the chapel's sacristy where the man would follow.

By time I learned to value Bishop Galea not only as a committed confessor full of wisdom, understanding and compassion, but also as an exemplary, humble and charitable priest of a profound spirituality; a preacher and teacher of distinct qualities; a priest who was always there to lovingly help whoever went to him for advice about how best to repair any error of whatever sort that one had committed.

Indeed, his presence transmitted prudence, holiness and love.

When I became editor of the newspaper Il-Ħajja, way back in June 1972, I used to find Bishop Galea always available when I sought his wise and practical advice on some delicate issue. He also honoured us with his presence during the 1973 official opening of the new Il-Ħajja Press building in Blata l-Bajda, which now houses the Church's Media Centre, thus confirming his belief in the modern means of social communication. In fact, he was an assiduous writer of usually short articles and also used this talent - among others - to propagate the teachings of the Church.

God's design was that Bishop Galea should go to join the Risen Lord in the summer of 50 years ago, following a very short illness. The funeral mass took place the next day. It was led by Archbishop Gonzi at St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta. The funeral then proceeded to Żejtun where a huge crowd of people from all walks of life accompanied him to his place of burial at the Żejtun Church Cemetery, a short distance away from his beloved Institute where he was missed so much.

I attended his funeral in Valletta and then in Żejtun, where I was joined by my wife, who as a young girl was even closer to him than I was.

When, on 5 November 1990, Mgr Galea's remains were exhumed and interred in a marble sarcophagus at the side of the Chapel of the Institute of Jesus of Nazareth, I was there too; this time round as the Public Relations officer of the Archbishop's Curia.

On 24 June 2003, the late Archbishop Mgr Joseph Mercieca authorised the Ecclesiastical Tribunal to begin the process for the beatification of Bishop Galea.