The Founder

Undoubtedly Saint George Preca was a veritable light on these Maltese Islands, but as he himself loved to repeat time and time again to others, “we are not made to stay here forever”. With the summer setting sun, Saint George Preca passed way on the 26 July 1962, at about 7.45 p.m. Praying and meditating the Gospel to the last, his death was a memento of his life. His funeral was a monument to his deeds, for some 20,000 people streamed to Hamrun to catch a last glimpse of a man so well-beloved.

Many recounted extraordinary stories about him, and were ready to proclaim his sanctity. Some spoke of cures he had affected at a word or glance, others of the mysterious power which passed from him to others at the touch of a hand, leaving them strangely calm and peaceful. Some said that he had foreseen the future, as when he prophesied the 1914 War a month in advance.

The cause for the sanctification of Fr. George Preca was started in 1975. He was beatified on the 9th of May 2001, by Pope John Paul II, and declared saint on the 3rd of June 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Saint George Preca will surely be mostly reverred for his willingness to serve as an instrument in God’s hands, an able and humble tool for the revitalisation of the faith of the Maltese Islands which had been first transmitted to us by that other great apostle, Paul of Tarsus.