The Maltese festa : a historical and cultural perspective

Abstract

It is a fact that Christianity was well-rooted in Malta by the time the Order of St John arrived in 1530. In earlier centuries there was usually an absentee Bishop, apart from some religious orders and institutions together with a Tribunal of the Inquisition usually presided over by the Vicar-General of the diocese responsible for the island's spiritual needs. The attachment of the Maltese community to the Church was so great that it often enabled the diocese to act as a separate, if not an independent entity in Malta, throughout the rule of the order of St John. Such a situation was attained practically in all pre-industrial societies where religion has always been looked upon as a symbolic code of communication and a focus for social organization. In fact, organized religions have generally always had to come to terms with the existent economic and cultural divisions of society.