Today Malta wakes up in mourning as Dun Victor Grech, the founder of the church-run Caritas' drug rehabilitation programme, is laid to rest in a state funeral.

Born in Cospicua in 1929, Mgr Grech was ordained a priest in 1956 and served as vice-rector and rector of the Archbishop's Seminary.

In 1977, he was appointed as the Archbishop's delegate for social work, and later became Caritas Malta director and introduced professional social services in Church institutions, within which he founded a community of volunteers to support them.

In 1984 Grech founded the Caritas Drug Prevention and Rehabilitation Programmes to offer rehabilitation to people dependent on drugs at a time when public awareness was still limited. In 1985 he founded the first therapeutic community for drug abusers, becoming founder-chairman of the Caritas Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Drugs Users and director of its centre.

In 1993, he was nominated member of the National Order of Merit of the Republic of Malta. He was a member of the permanent commission of Caritas Europe and of the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities.

For many years he also hosted a popular radio show, speaking with people about their daily troubles and, in the most soothing of manners, advising how best to address them.

Grech passed away at the age of 95, a decade after he retired from his post at the helm of Caritas, leaving behind him a legacy that was truly inclusive: with Dun Victor, no man or women was ever left behind, or consigned to the scrap heap of modern day society.

Through Caritas, Grech came closer to working to the most marginalised in society and the most vulnerable.  He offered them a refuge, a reprieve and an opportunity for rehabilitation - an opportunity for a second chance.

Under his guidance, Caritas became a leading voice to promote drug and alcohol abuse prevention programmes both across government legislation and in the day to day lives in places such as schools.

Grech was in many ways a rare voice of conscience in a society which is fast become more and more materialistic and individualistic society which sometimes forgets that no person is an island and that with unity and togetherness there is strength.

It's a message that even transcends religious belief, and one that should resonate across everyone.

The decision to call a state funeral and national days of mourning to commemorate Dun Victor was no doubt the right one, and it offers us an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of this great man and to see what we can take onboard from it for living our own lives.

For Dun Victor Grech was not just anyone, but he was a one of a kind man in how he lived.  We would do well to take inspiration from him, even now that he is no longer with us.