SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES – 60 & 61

A candle to the Grand Master, the Bishop and the Inquisitor by the vice Parish Priest Dun Salv Bonnici for the feast of Candlemass of 1777

Traditions and obligations

     We have seen some of the connections the city of Senglea had with the Inquisitor’s office. Some traditions which have been there for some time have been kept up to our times, though slightly altered. The Parish Priests and the Superiors of the Religious Orders had various obligations towards the civil and religious authorities of our islands. As civil leader we had the Grand Masters for two hundred and sixty eight years. As religious leaders we had the Bishops and their Vicars. The Inquisitor was also considered on the same level as that of a Bishop and he lived not far off from Senglea in Vittoriosa. The obligations were not due simply to him because he was the Inquisitor but because he was the Apostolic Delegate. His position is nowadays filled by the Apostolic Nuncio. He was the Pope’s representative on the island and the people of Senglea were very much honoured by his presence during the celebrations of the feats of Marija Bambina. He always came to Senglea on the proper day of the feast or on the day before but it was important that his visit did not clash with that of the Grand Master of that of the Bishop so that there would be no problem with regards to protocol.

1777: The times of De Rohan, Pellerano and Lante

     The ceremony of the giving of a candle on Candlemass day has been held for a long time. We will look at the ceremony held in 1777. The Parish Priest was Dun Furtunat Vella who had been in office for sixty years since 1717. The vice Parish Priest was the much loved Dun Salv Bonnici who later on became the first Arch priest of Senglea.

     On the 2^nd February 1717 Dun Salv Bonnici went to the Palace of the Grand Master in Valletta and presented De Rohan a candle which cost than one skud and four irbajja. It was obvious that during this ceremony the Grand Master was informed about the feast of Marija Bambina for De Rohan came to Senglea for the feast dressed as a prince.

     While in Valletta Dun Salv Bonnici went to pay homage also to the Bishop Giovanni Pellerano who was soon going to be obliged to leave the diocese of Malta. Dun Salv Bonnici gave the Bishop and his Vicar a candle each which cost one skud, one irbija and ten habbiet.

     From Valletta Dun Salv Bonnici went to the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa where he met Mons Antonio Lante who was preparing to leave Malta to be elevated to the grade of Cardinal. Dun Salv Bonnici game Mons Lante a candle. In Senglea the Provost of the Oratorians had to carry the same obligations and he used to visit and present a candle to the Civil Authorities of Malta as a sign of respect.

SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES – 61

Honour for Senglea or bad name because of same misdemeanour

     During the end of October 1998 the Pope called various historians to study the various aspects of inquisitions in the church. From the studies and books recently published, it came out very clearly that the inquisition was not as harsh as presented in past writings. I also game my part in writings in both English and Maltese about the Inquisition. My book was also in the hands of the congress which met in Rome.

     In those days life was very different from that as we know it now. Everybody was afraid of liberation. The Inquisition in Malta investigated also some people from Senglea some for their good deeds, others for their bad behaviour. Some were called to help the Inquisition others were brought to be tried before it. In this chapter, when we are celebrating the two hundred* years since the end of the Inquisition in Malta, I am going to list some cases which dealt with by the Inquisition.

Servants of the Inquisition

     The Inquisition had a group of people who were there to help it in its cause. Whey they were ordained as priests the Bishop would not like it at all. He used to lose most of his power over them because they were more faithful to the Inquisitor. Mons Ranieri D’Elci was Inquisitor of Malta between 1711 and 1715 and he chose two priests from Senglea as his helpers. The priests, Dun Gakbu Flomotonto and Dun Gwann Battista Salemi form part of the Inquisition’s organisation. On the 28^th January 1717, that is just over a year from the Inquisitor’s departure from Malta the two priests presented documents to the Bishop Mons Gakbu Canaves which stated that they were subject to the dictates of the Inquisitor. The Bishop, against his wish, accepted their documents. The Bishops always protested strongly when the Inquisitor chose for his organisation parish priests. The later could not break their ties with the Bishop and be subject to the Inquisitor and not to him.

A Senglean who sold false certificates

     The Senglean who helped a woman obtain a false certificate puts Senglea in a bad light. There was a woman who was informed that her husband died in slavery. She wanted to re marry but had not written documents to show that she was a widow. A certain Duminku who hailed from Senglea told her that if she was ready to pay him he could get her a certificate from Siracuse saying that her husband was dead. He assured her that he will bring her this document whether her husband was dead or not. The price for this document was two and a half skudi. He complied with her request and brought her the necessary document which was issued in Zaragoza, Spain. With this document in hand this woman could re marry, but soon afterwards she felt that she had cheated and so went to the Inquisitor’s office to report her bribery to obtain the certificate.

Grief because he did not convert to Islam

     A certain Frangisku Fazoi from Senglea was accused in 1648 in front of the Inquisitor Antonio Pignatelli (who later on became Pope Innocent XII) that he said that he was sorry that he did not change to become a Turk or a Muslim. The Inquisitor felt pity for him because he did not intent to go against the Christian faith. The facts show that some Christians made him suffer a lot. While he was being tortured by the Knights of St John he said that the Turks would not have been so cruel with him. Following his suffering at the hand of the Knights,  Frangisku Fazoi remained handicapped in his right arm.

Advantages in time of want and poverty

        The people of Senglea, like those of Vittoriosa and Cospicua, benefited somewhat during the times of the Inquisition. During times of want they stood better chance than people of other towns and villages to find jobs, even meagre ones, with the office of the Inquisition. The three parishes of Cottonera even asked the Inquisition to help them obtain certain priviliges. In 1786 during the time of the Inquisition Gallarati Scotti, the parish of Senglea was elevated to the title of Collegiate. The parish of Vittoriosa was very angry because they held that since their parish was older than that of Senglea they should have been honoured and so they worked a lot during the time of the last Inquisitor Giulio Carpegna so that some recognition could be made to their parish. He managed to obtain some concessions namely that their priests could wear the red cope usually wore by canons. But this concession did not fully satisfy the parish of Vittoriosa because they were not elevated to Collegiate during the time of the Inquisition. They have a chip on their shoulder because the Collegiate of Senglea has precedence over them for all time.

 *this article was written in 1999

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