Canonization echo

Tony Vella of Kingston, Ontario, hopes that Fr George Preca’s story will echo long after his June 3 canonization, writes Deborah Gyapong in Canadian Catholic News.

Vella, 64, who is related to the charismatic Maltese priest he knew as Dun Gorg, hopes Catholics today will learn the virtues of their faith – just Dun Gorg (1880-1962) taught the Maltese to deepen their understanding of the gospel. When he began his ministry, Malta, an island nation off the coast of Italy, was largely illiterate and though Catholic, the faith was mingled with superstition and not deeply-rooted. Vella, who served Dun Gorg as an altar boy in his native town of Hamrun, calls him a “pioneer of the lay apostolate.”

“He was my mother’s uncle,” said Vella in a telephone interview from Kingston in May days before he would join 4,000 Maltese from around the world at the canonization ceremony in Rome. “I used to see him pretty well every day.” Dun Gorg’s mission began, when as a deacon, when started “religious discussions” with sailors in the Grand Harbor area, and building relationships with local youths. But shortly after his 1906 ordination, he had what Vella described as a “very charismatic experience” that led him to spend three months alone, praying and meditating in a loft, pondering the Bible, especially the New Testament..

Dun Gorg used to speak from the back of a pickup truck, sitting in a chair by a small table and a statue of Our Lady. He would often arrive unannounced. “People would close their stores, leave their place of work, mothers would go with their kids, people with problems at home would come and listen to his sermon,” Vella said. “When he talked about aspects of the gospel, his voice often trembled and you could feel the emotions associated with the topic he was talking about,” he said. Dun Gorg would lay the palm of his hand on the forehead of those who came seeking his help for family problems, illness, or financial difficulties. Vella said they would “leave with a sense of hopefulness and reassurance that his prayers are going to make a difference.” ...

Update: Canonisation celebrations announced