German chaplaincy’s 50th anniversary

The chaplaincy of the German Catholic community in Malta is celebrating its 50th anniversary on October 30. On that day in 1966, the late Rev. Professor Maurice Eminyan, SJ, was appointed the first chaplain to this community. The Church in Malta, realising the growing importance of tourism and foreign investment in the island, had decided to set up separate personal chaplaincies for the Italian, Spanish, French and German Catholic residents and tourists. The British and Greek communities’ chaplaincies had already been in existence for a number of years. The idea was for each community to have Sunday Mass and other religious services in their respective language. These include christenings, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Confessions and weddings. The German, French, English and Filipino communities hold Sunday Masses in their respective languages at St Barbara’s church in Republic Street, Valletta. Fr Eminyan served as chaplain to the German community for 34 years; he was followed by Fr Joe Sammut, assisted by Canon Dr Joseph Debono (who for some years now has been serving in the parish of Hamm in the Paderborn diocese of Germany) and, since 2002 by Fr John Sammut. Fr...