EPISCOPAL ORDINATION

Mons Joseph Galea Curmi to be ordained auxiliary bishop today

The Episcopal Ordination of Mgr Joseph Galea Curmi as Auxiliary Bishop will take place this evening at the Mdina Cathedral.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, together with the other Bishops and the Bishop-elect, will leave the Archbishop’s Palace at 6.40pm and head to the cathedral, where they will be welcomed by the members of the Metropolitan Chapter.

The Archbishop and the Bishop-elect then proceed to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament for a moment of prayer.

At 7pm Archbishop Scicluna will lead the Solemn Mass of the Ordination.

The two co-ordaining Bishops are the Archbishop Emeritus, Mgr Paul Cremona O.P., and the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Mario Grech.

Pope Francis appointed Monsignor Joseph Galea-Curmi as Auxiliary Bishop of Malta in June.

As Auxiliary Bishop, Mgr Galea-Curmi, 54, will be the closest collaborator and advisor of Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna with leadership responsibilities in the Curia and in diocesan pastoral ministry.

Mgr Galea Curmi was born of the late Paul and Josette née Mifsud Bonnici, in Birkirkara, on 1 January 1964, and is the third of six children.

Mgr Galea-Curmi was educated at Stella Maris School, Balzan, at the Secondary School of St Paul’s Missionary College, Rabat, and at St Aloysius College (Sixth Form), Birkirkara.

He entered the Archbishop’s Seminary in 1982.

After completing his studies and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Faculty of Theology, he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood by the Archbishop of Malta, Monsignor Joseph Mercieca, on 5 July 1991.

Monsignor Galea-Curmi was sent to further his studies at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and obtained a doctorate in Pastoral Theology in 1998.

His doctoral thesis was entitled “The Diocesan Synod as a Pastoral Event. A Study of the PostConciliar Understanding of the Diocesan Synod”.

Follow the ceremony on www.independent.com.mt