Of humour and satire in clerical circles : a Gozitan perspective

Abstract

The Church has played an important role in the social and cultural life of the Maltese nation since its very beginning. Even before the earliest records of an institutionalised church, religion had an important place in the life of our forefathers with such places as Ġgantija, Ħaġar Qim and Tas-Silġ proving the point. When the Roman Church became part and parcel of the life of the Maltese and the local church finding itself playing a rival role in contrast with both the Inquisition and the Order of St John, such an institution definitely became part of the social order; it was here to stay.