Church Archives : an attempt to bring them in order

Abstract

My voluntary work in Church Archives started twenty-two years ago, in the millennium year, when I for the first time was asked to do it at the Cathedral of Gozo. Following that work, I was subsequently asked to work for the Church of St Julian in Senglea, the Collegiate Church of Għarb in Gozo, the Collegiate Church of St Helen in Birkirkara, the Province of the Franciscans Minor in Valletta, the Parish Church of Żebbuġ in Gozo, the Parish Church of Kirkop, the Major Seminary of Gozo and, for the second time, the Cathedral of Gozo. Outside Malta, I was also asked to work at the Archives of the Custody of the Holy Land run by the Franciscans Minor in Jerusalem, and at the international Archives of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem placed at Torri Lanzun in Mensija, San Ġwann. In all these places, I never insisted on payment, but suggested that stationery be provided and that the catalogue be published at the contracting party’s expense. Still, in some of these places, I had to provide the stationery myself, and even pay for the publication.