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Bl George Preca
Fr George
Preca was one of three Maltese recently beatified by Pope John Paul II. Grace Saliba, who now lives in Sydney, knew the priest who preached forgiveness. She spoke to Johanna Bennett about the man who was not above
blessing sweets for the children
He was beatified on May 9, but in Malta the now Blessed George Preca is already considered a saint.
One woman who knew him and used to attend his
hugely successful Sunday afternoon talks at various parishes in Malta is Grace Saliba, who now lives in Granville, Sydney.
Dun Georg (Fr George) as he was known, could pack a church. Mrs Saliba, whose
grandson interpreted for her, said Dun Georg would visit different parishes on Sunday afternoons to give two-hour homilies.
Although they would have already been to Mass that morning – Malta is a staunchly
Catholic country – people would turn up in their hundreds, packing the churches and spilling out of the doors.
What was it he taught that persuaded so many people to give up their Sunday afternoons to hear
him? The doctrine of forgiveness, it seems.
“He said that forgiveness was one of the main points of Christian Catholicism and that without forgiveness (one) cannot hope to enter heaven,” Mrs Saliba said.
“He used to preach ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’ and forgive everyone – it is one of pre- requisites for entering heaven.”
In the homily he gave in Valetta, the Maltese capital, beatifying Dun Georg,
the Pope spoke of this forgiving aspect of the priest, saying, “Dun Georg urged his fellow Christians to follow the example of the crucified Lord in forgiving every offence. Is not this message of mutual respect and
forgiveness especially needed today in Malta and in the world?”
Mrs Saliba said that the way Dun Georg spoke “it was obvious he was really holy, that he was a saint like Mother Teresa”.
“He was very
down to earth and humble … He preached that we should be honest and be decent people. He also said that you should not let your head or heart rule you, but your soul.”
He was considered so holy in his
lifetime – he was preaching during the 1940s and 50s – that people used to bring sweets and get him to bless them and then give the blessed sweets to the children, she said.
Dun Georg’s down-to-earth nature
was further illustrated by his going down to the docks during World War II to welcome the sailors there and to try to bring them to the faith. Many British sailors and soldiers were stationed in Malta at the time.
As well as preaching the gospel of forgiveness, Dun Georg was a man of miracles, said Mrs Saliba, both big and small. He was also a student of human nature and of foresight, too.
One of his major
achievements was the founding of a movement devoted to Catholic teaching and evangelisation, especially of the young.
Called the Society of Christian Doctrine, it is seen by many as a precursor of Vatican II
in its promotion of the laity as teachers of Catholic Christianity. The society now operates in seven countries, including Australia.
But the high ideals and goals of Dun Georg’s society did not mean that
society members always behaved in a saintly fashion. Mrs Saliba told of how Dun Georg arrived late one evening for a Society meeting at which people had been complaining and gossiping about him, as people do.
Suddenly he was there, having arrived without people noticing.
Although he had not heard them complaining, he asked those assembled if they felt they had said enough about him now.
This caused a bit
of a stir, but Dun Georg was known as a man of miracles. “Miracles used to follow him around,” said Mrs Saliba.
She told of how one day he was given a number of medals to bless by a woman. He picked out one
that her son had stolen and told her the boy should return it to the shop.
Another story concerned Dun Georg’s visions of Mary. Apparently, he saw visions of Our Lady on a number of occasions. On one of
these occasions on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady told Dun Georg not to reprimand people who had been making fun of him because of his scruffy clothes.
He did have scruffy
clothes, said Mrs Saliba, because he did not care about his appearance. He was more concerned with his work. He had been thinking, though, about taking to task those who had made fun of his clothing, but Our Lady
told him it was best to remain silent.
Of course such ‘miracles’ are not those of which a saint are made – these must be more substantial and often involve cures – but Blessed George Preca obviously made a
huge impression on his native Malta, and on Grace Saliba.
Mrs Saliba, now 88, came to Australia in 1960 – two years before Dun Georg’s death. He lived between 1880 and 1962.
But, before deciding
definitely to do so, she, like many other people, sought the good Father’s advice as to whether she should go to Australia. He advised her to do so, telling it was a wise decision and that she and her family would
prosper here. This has been the case.
But, despite her happiness in Australia, Grace declined to give The Catholic Weekly a photograph of herself, saying she would “prefer to remain humble like Dun Georg”.
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