It is an honor to announce that we have a new Maltese Cardinal, announced yesterday by Pope Francis. He will be the third Cardinal of the Maltese Islands throughout history. Mons. Mario Grech has been appointed as the Secretary to the Synod of Bishops, starting his role in August, and he was listed as one of 13 new Cardinals which Pope Francis will install in a consistory on November 28th. He was born February 20, 1957, in Qala, Gozo, but grew up in Kerċem. He studied at the Seminary in Gozo and was ordained on May 22, 1984. After his ordination, he went to Rome to study further Canon Law at the Lateran University, and receiving the doctorate at the St Thomas Aquinas University. He helped in various Diocesan roles, and was also for a short while the parish priest of Kerċem, until he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Gozo, being consecrated on January 22, 2006. All through his episcopacy, he showed strong allegiance to the Catholic teaching of the church, defending various issues that were under attack. He showed great pastoral care towards his flock, and was known for his sermons and love of vocations. On October 2, 2019, he was appointed Pro-Secretary of the Synod for Bishops, and became officially the Synod Secretary in August 2020. The first Maltese Cardinal was Mons. Fabrizio Sceberras Testaferrata (1757-1843) and the second one was Mons. Prospero Grech, OSA (24 December 1925 – 30 December 2019.) Mons Mario Grech’s parents are still alive and live in their home at Kerċem, Gozo. Ad Multos Annos, your Eminence.
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