The Collegium Melitense : a frontier mission in the interface between Christian and Muslim worlds

Abstract

In 1554 Ignatius Loyola realized Malta's great potential as a stepping-stone for building contacts with the Muslim Maghreb. The close association of the Maltese language to Arabic further convinced the Jesuit Curia, and the Holy See, to 'privilege' Malta as an ideal base for the evangelization of North Africa and the Levant. However, with time, the College became more concemed with preaching and missionary activities within Malta itself. The present study, largely based on research at the Jesuit Curia archives in Rome, looks at Jesuit activities in Malta from the end of the sixteenth century to 1768, when the Jesuits were expelled. During the span of almost two centuries, the role played by Malta had much to do with Malta's geographical proximity to North Africa, coupled with the ability of the Maltese to speak a native Semitic language which was believed to be very close to Arabic, while at the same time being a place inhabited by a fervently Catholic population. The Jesuit Curia appears to have used Malta as a base for missionary activities to, or, from the Levant.