Christianity in Malta

In 588 Tucillus, Miletinae civitatis episcopus, was deposed by Pope Gregory I, and his successor Trajan elected by the clergy and people of Malta in 599 AD.

The last recorded Bishop of Malta before the Arab invasion of the Islands was a Greek by the name of Manas, who was subsequently incarcerated at Palermo, Sicily.

[4] Over the years, the power of the Knights declined; their reign ended when Napoleon Bonaparte's fleet arrived in 1798, en route to his expedition of Egypt.

Grand Master Hompesch capitulated, and Napoleon stayed in Malta for a few days during which he systematically looted the moveable assets of the Order and established an administration controlled by his nominees.

The Maltese people rebelled, and the French garrison of General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois retreated into Valletta.

Rear Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson decided on a total blockade, and in 1800 the French garrison surrendered.

Instrumental in this effort were a young priest named Don Pietro Pace, who would several years later serve as Bishop of Gozo, and Sir Adriano Dingli, Crown Advocate.

[5] In 1863, Archpriest Michele Francesco Buttigieg was elected Auxiliary Bishop of Malta with instructions to reside in Gozo.

One year later, on September 16, 1864, the Pope issued a Bull entitled "Singulari Amore" (With remarkable Love), which decreed that the islands of Gozo and Comino were separated from the Diocese of Malta.

British rule brought the first sizeable population of members of the Anglican Church and Protestant denominations in the form of civil servants and retirees.

[10] In an SMS poll, Malta chose the Maltese cross to be the image on the Maltese Euro and rejected one of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, which had garnered a strong majority in a previous poll, after attracting opposition even from the local Bishops who did not see it fit to place Jesus' face on a coin.