SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES - 25 & 26
Good news – the latest volume of the history of Senglea to be published this June (1991)
Ten years ago, in 1981, the first volume of the history of Senglea was published. It was written by the friar Alexander Bonnici. He could do so after lots of researching in documents kept in various locations all over the island. The actual title is: L-Isla: fi grajjiet il-Basilka Santwarju ta’ Marija Bambina (Senglea: its connection with the history of the Basilica and Sanctuary of Marija Bambina). The second volume was published in 1986 and now (1991) the third and final volume, leading to life in present day Senglea, is going to be published.
This third volume is about history in the last one hundred years. We see how Senglea suffered in the hands of the French. We see how the Collegiate was elevated to the status of Basilica. We rejoice, same as our forefathers did when the statue of Marija Bambina was crowned in Senglea’s marina. We remember the sadness of the last World War when Senglea and its citizens felt the brunt of so many air raids; many deaths; many destroyed homes and the destruction of our spiritual home, our church. We remember also citizens of Senglea who gave a good name to our city, such as Archbishop Mattei; Bishop Gaffiero; the makers of statues such as Chircop and Darmanin; the marble artist Duranti; the politician Panzavecchia and many others. This new volume reminds us of famous people from Senglea who many of us know personally, such as Bishop Galea; Archpriests Brincat, Burlo and Sladden. The volume comes to an end with a look at Senglea and its problems nowadays. A volume of over four hundred pages is difficult to summarise in a short paragraph.
No one can boast to be a citizen of Senglea without knowing the history of his city. Any Maltese who truly loves his country can understand what a great part Senglea played in the history of our Islands. So nobody should lose the occasion to get a copy of this book.
SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES - 26
Religious institutions which desired to run the church of St Philip in Senglea
The found of the Church of Porto Salvu (Safe Haven), more commonly known as the church of St Philip in Senglea was Dun Vincenz Caruana, the second archpriest of Senglea in 1596. The first rector was Dun Leonard Felici.
In 1661 some priests from Senglea showed their desire to start living community life in the church of Porto Salvu. The Bishop Balaguer was in favour of this wish. They did not become monks/friars but stayed priests and they chose St Philip Neri as their patron. So they started to be known as the Oratorians of Saint Philip. Thus the popular name of St Philip became the unofficial name of this church. The titular feast remained as always that of Our Lady of Porto Salvu. As time went by the most renowned of the Oratorians were Dun Xmun Schembri (the founder), Dun Vincenz Cachia (Archpriest of Senglea), Dun Salv Gaffiero (who was to become Bishop of Silimbrija), Dun Frangisku Saverju Baldacchino (a very intelligent person and a poet) and Dun Ang Raggio (a priest who led a very holy life).
The Philippines, even though they were priest who did a lot of good work, were always few in number and there were times when the convent was empty. In between the years 1860-1872, members of the Order of the Redemptionists of St Alfons Dei Liguori were houses in this convent. This order was being harshly persecuted in Italy during the time of the Risorgimento (the reformation of Italy) and so they came to this convent as safe haven.
The church was still in the hands of the Philippines. Since this group could not increase its members, the Freres De La Salle showed interest, in the beginning of the 20th century, in 1907 precisely, to settle in this convent. But the Freres are not priests so they could not run the church as a parochial place of worship. They showed interest only in the convent so as to convert it into a place where novitiates could undergo their preparations or else as a school. Senglea could not afford to have the church of St Philip closed because it was serving its pastoral needs for the residents of that particular area. Therefore the Freres application had to be turned down. After some years, during the time Raggio was rector, the Philippines showed some signs of recovery but it was a short time revival and soon they were back to square one. The last Philippine was Dun Anton Galea. He left the post when he was appointed Monsignor in 1943.
From 1943-1957, St Philip church served as temporary parish and then was taken over by the Jesuits. They started their work at St Philip in 1958 and amongst the Jesuits the more known personalities were Patri Guzepp Delia and Patri Victor Xuereb.
During its four hundred years of pastoral existence the church of St Philip went through difficult eras but one way or the other it managed to survive. The people of Senglea always loved and held in high esteem the orders/societies which were running this old and beautiful church.