Bishop Scicluna consecrated

Bishop Charles Scicluna at St John's Cathedral, Valletta, Malta

Mgr Charles Scicluna, former Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, was ordained Auxiliary Bishop for Malta on Saturday morning November 24, 2012 at St John's co-Cathedral in Valletta. He will be Archbishop Paul Cremona's right hand man. Two Cardinals, several bishops and many priests concelebrated the Mass in a packed Cathedral. The ceremony began with the reading out of an official proclamation by the Pope followed by Mgr Cremona’s homily in which he thanked the Pope for sending Mgr Scicluna “with his talents and experience - to help me and the Church in Malta on its way towards holiness”.

Malta Cardinal Prospero Grech blessing the new Bishop

In a message to the new bishop, Mgr Cremona said “The fullness of the ministerial priesthood which you will be receiving in your Episcopal Ordination is the mission through which the Bishop helps the faithful to live their calling as Christians. This means that the Bishop’s is not a personal dignity: it is given to him for others. It is a great dignity and a great responsibility which the Church entrusts primarily to Bishops in a specific place and entrusts them mainly with all the means it has available for the sanctification of Christians: namely the sacraments and the Word of God.”

Miter, ring and crosier of new Bishop Scicluna

The Bishop's ring is a gift from the Malta archdiocese. In the liturgical form, the ring represents the loyalty of the bishop towards the Church. In the past, the ring would be given as a sign of respect to mark (seal) his official documents and as a symbol of the commitment of the bishop towards his diocese. The miter is a gift from the nuns community in Rome, of which he is chaplain. The miter represents the bishop's enthusiasm to walk towards the path of sainthood. The tails of the miter incorporates the coat-of-arms of Bishop Scicluna, which include the family crest, which incidentally is also my mother's maiden name. The crosier is a present from the Lija parish, where Mgr Scicluna lives with his parents. The crosier reminds us that the bishop is the shepherd taking care of his flock. The cross around Mgr Scicluna's neck was given as a gift from his relatives. Ad Multos Annos.