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Gorġ
Preca 1880-1962 Gorġ Preca was born in Valletta on 12 February 1880.
He was the seventh of nine children born to a deeply Christian Maltese family.
He grew as a sickly child. He studied at the Lyceum and at the Seminary.
A
few weeks before Gorġ Preca was to be ordained priest, he fell seriously ill and
his doctor lost all hope of recovery. However, Fr. George did recover, and was
ordained on 22 December 1906. He would later attribute his recovery to the
intercession of St Joseph Even before his priestly ordination, Fr. Preca felt
that God was calling him to teach His people who were in dire need of Catholic
instruction. About 1906, Fr. Preca had already started writing a rule in Latin
which he intended to send to Pope St Pius X asking for the setting up of a
society of Permanent Deacons who would be able to help the Bishops in the
people’s Christian formation. Shortly afterwards he modified this project by
starting to form a group of young men who would then be able to instruct others.
He gave special formation to one particular young Dockyard worker, the Servant
of God Eugenio Borg. Fr. Preca explained to him at length the sacred passion of
Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St John. Eugenio Borg was to be the
first Superior General of Fr. Preca’s Society. The beginning of the Society was at Hamrun during the
early months of 1907 in a small room deprived of everything but rich in
brotherly love and in instruction. The Society of Christian Doctrine (SDC)
started with the motto of M.U.S.E.U.M., an acrostic for the sentence in Latin Magister, Utinam Sequatur Evangelium
Universus Mundus - Lord, would that all the world follow the Gospel. Not everybody understood this vision of Fr. Preca.
Some even turned his intentions upside down. Bringing the Bible and theology
down to the grasp of workers and lay people was truly a novelty at the beginning
of the 20th century. Much more startling was Fr. Preca’s vision of forming lay
men and women and then sending them to proclaim God’s word to everybody in
public. On April 12, 1932, after 25 years from the beginning of the Society the
Bishop of Malta Dom Maurus Caruana OSB approved Fr. Preca’s Society and its
Rule. When government schools were few and attendance was
not compulsory, the SDC Centres for Catholic instruction started opening from
one parish to another. From the very beginning Fr. Preca wanted to instruct
both young and adults; but first and foremost he planned the formation of his
dedicated and celibate catechists. After instructing children, youths and
adults, Fr. Preca’s catechists are to follow a daily one-hour formation together
in every SDC Centre. Fr. Preca also taught through his writings. In spite
of the language rivalry going on in Malta involving Italian and English, Fr.
Preca taught and wrote in Maltese, the language of the common people, so that
everyone could understand. Fr. Preca has about 150 publications in books or
pamphlets to his credit. His prayers are also numerous, and they reveal Fr.
Preca as a mystic constantly seeking God in everything. Fr. Preca was also a
confessor much sought for his consoling words. It seems that God even used Fr.
Preca’s ministry for some instances of healing. Today Fr. Preca’s charism is still alive and
vocations in his Society are also numerous. In the 1950s Fr. Preca himself sent
six Members to evangelise in Australia. At present the SDC has Centres in the
Sudan, Kenya, Peru, London and Albania. Fr
Gorġ Preca died at St Venera (Malta) on 26 July 1962. His mortal remains are
preserved close to the Society’s Motherhouse at Blata l-Bajda. The Cause for his
Beatification was initiated in 1975, and he was declared Venerable in June 2000.
It is hoped that Fr. Preca will be declared Blessed during the Pope’s scheduled
visit to Malta later this year.
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