**Gozo’s Santa Luċija Celebrates Feast of Our Lady of Fatima: A Timeless Tradition** In the heart of Gozo, the village of Santa Luċija came alive this weekend as it celebrated the annual feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The event, deeply rooted in Maltese tradition, is a testament to the island’s rich cultural heritage and…
**Blessing of New Bells for Għajnsielem Church: A Timeless Tradition in Modern Malta** Malta, a land rich in history and culture, recently witnessed a poignant event that resonated deeply with its people. The blessing of new bells for the Għajnsielem church is not just a religious ceremony; it is a celebration of heritage, community, and…
Sunday morning in Żejtun, and the bronze-skinned fisherman who sells lampuki at the parish steps is not just “the guy with the fish”. To 82-year-old Marija, who still pins her lace pattern to the balcony, he is Ġorġ—“Tal-Ajkla’s boy who lost his father at sea”. The Gospel read moments earlier, Luke’s Emmaus story, is still…
**‘We are finally back home’: rebel octogenarian nuns reclaim Austrian convent** In a twist worthy of a Mediterranean melodrama, a band of rebellious Austrian nuns—most in their eighties—have stormed back into their 12th-century convent after a two-year exile, declaring spiritual mutiny against Vienna’s archbishop. For Maltese readers who grew up on tales of Valletta’s own…
Maltese Dominicans Re-Elect Provincial for a Second Term: A Vote of Continuity in a Changing Archipelago The narrow cobblestones of Valletta’s Republic Street were unusually hushed at dawn last Saturday, but inside the 16th-century cloister of the Dominican Priory of St Dominic, the air crackled with anticipation. By 7:30 a.m., the chapter hall—its walls still…
**Christian spirituality: U-turn after misguided freedom** *By a Hot Malta correspondent* On any given Friday evening, the basement of the Capuchin Friary in Floriana hums with chatter, the clink of coffee cups and the low murmur of shared confession. Among the twenty-somethings squeezed onto wooden benches is 29-year-old Luke* from Sliema, a former DJ who…
**From the Gospel: A cross-shaped paradox** Sunday morning in Żejtun, and the church bells are ringing in that particular Maltese cadence—half celebration, half lament. Inside the basilica, Fr. Rene’ is threading his homily through the one story that still stops parishioners mid-bite on their post-Mass ftira: the crucifixion as divine victory. “A paradox,” he calls…
Valletta’s baroque balconies were draped in rainbow flags long before the first hymn echoed inside St John’s Co-Cathedral last Saturday. Inside, Archbishop Charles Scicluna had just proclaimed a “Jubilee of Grace” for LGBTQ+ Catholics—an historic concession that turned the island’s most hallowed nave into a technicolour tapestry of tears, cheers, and nervous genuflections. For many…
New Book Unveils the Hidden Malta Chapter of Pope Pius V’s Legacy Valletta’s narrow cobblestones once echoed with the footsteps of a pope who never set foot on the island, yet whose shadow still drapes across our skyline, our feasts, and even the honey-coloured limestone of the Grand Harbour bastions. Historian Dr. Maria Micallef’s freshly…
**Police and Priests Are Human Too: Malta’s Unrealistic Expectations of Its Authority Figures** In a nation where the parish priest still commands front-row respect at village festas and where a police constable’s whistle can clear a street faster than any traffic light, Maltese society clings to an old, unspoken contract: authority figures are supposed to…
Catholic teen set to become first millennial saint: How Carlo Acutis is already inspiring Maltese youth The pews of the Oratory of St Francis in Birkirkara were unusually packed last Sunday—not for a wedding or First Communion, but for a special Mass celebrated by Maltese teenagers who had just returned from a week-long pilgrimage to…
Religious quotes and news – September 7, 2025 Valletta wakes up on a Sunday that feels almost pre-ordained. The bells of St John’s Co-Cathedral ring at 6.05 a.m., echoing Archbishop Charles Scicluna’s midnight tweet: “Let the bells tell the world that mercy is still louder than thunder.” Within minutes the line is shared 1,700 times,…
