Protestant challenges to Malta's Roman Catholic Identity in the early nineteenth century

Abstract

In researching and writing about Catholic-Protestant relations in the early nineteenth-century Malta, especially on how Protestant-tinged activity could have possibly challenged Malta‟s Roman Catholic identity, I realised that Anglicisation posed an insidious threat to Maltese culture more than before. It is ironic, for instance, how in a post-colonial, republican Malta, many Maltese couples, who are themselves native speakers of Maltese, choose to bring up their children speaking only English. Our Catholic churches, once the home of heavenly sacred music, seem to have succumbed to a plethora of Protestant-style worship songs, some of which in English, limiting the Latin Tridentine mass to but one little church, St Paul's in Birkirkara. Queen Elizabeth II's cipher has also found its place on the Commonwealth walkway bronze markers in streets around Valletta. New Protestant churches, mostly of American provenance, such as the Mormons and Baptists, have set up shop on the island, even though their scant following by locals is rather dubious. Some processions have thankfully survived, and have seen unprecedented growth and modification, though others, such as the procession of the Viaticum have disappeared. Some street niches are still lit by candles from devotees, though the indulgence plaques beneath, may now only have historical and linguistic merit. Rather than offering a chronological inventory of what the Protestants did in Malta, this dissertation is more of an appraisal or critique of Maltese Catholic culture. Although this work is historical in nature, I have tried to reflect the multidisciplinary approach of the Institute of Maltese Studies, which among other things, seeks to analyse in depth the nature of Malteseness, and the complex make-up of the Maltese people. With this in mind, the said Institute has helped me to appreciate further my love of Malta and its unique character.