Parish priest and confraternity : conflict at the Parish Church of St Catherine's in Zejtun, Malta, 1769-1801

Abstract

The Council of Trent made the parish priest the head of the parish, but for a long time priests found it difficult to affirm their authority. Chief among their opponents were the confraternities led by the parish elites. This article examines the difficult relations between Don Francesco Maria Xuereb (1769-1801), parish priest of the Maltese parish of Saint Catherine's (in Zejtun), and members of the local confraternity of the Holy Sacrament, who led a revolt against him. The charges levelled against the priest were several, but the Sacra Congregazione dei Vescovi e Regolari found him innocent on all counts. The assistant clergy and the parishioners of Saint Catherine's would not, however, receive him back. When, against the warning of the bishop of Malta, Xuereb returned to his parish, the women took over the church and shut themselves in it, while the men stood outside in protest against the priest. In the end, a coadjutor was appointed to run the parish and when Father Xuereb died in 1801 he was named parish priest to everyone's delight.