An Inspiring Tale of Pioneers in Lay Formation - from Malta

Fr. George Preca is due to be canonized in June. Dockworker Eugenio Borg's cause for beatification is underway. All because they dedicated their whole lives to the formation of lay Catholics and the equipping of those who would form others.

The situation for lay Catholics in Malta in the first decade of the 20th century is hard for us to conceive. 75% of the population of this ancient, once Muslim, but now Catholic nation was illiterate even after a century of British rule.

Fr. George Preca was ordained in 1906 but seemed to have been thinking of the problem of evangelisation for a long time. He had realised that although Malta was virtually completely Catholic and all the population was church-going, most Maltese Catholics knew very little about the truths of Christianity. In general religion was based on the practice of popular devotions and little else.

He befriended a young dock work, Eugenio Borg. Fr. George would invite Eugenio for a picnic and country walk on Sunday but told him to bring his Bible. (Eugenio promptly bought his first Bible - in English - because the Bible wasn't available in Maltese. Maltese Catholics simply didn't read the Bible). During those afternoons, Fr. George formed Eugenio into a fellow apostle.

Together they founded the Society of Christian Doctrine (known in Malta as M.U.S.E.U.M.) in 1907. The SDC centres are open every evening of the week for catechetical classes for children and adults taught by lay members who do so after their ordinary work day is over. Today it consists of about 110 Centres and 1100 members. They teach about 20,000 boys and girls in the Maltese islands, in Australia, Peru, the Sudan, United Kingdom, Kenya and Albania.

A century later, the situation in Malta is very different. Malta is now independent. 99.6% of all children 15 and under are literate. The Bible is available in Maltese (published by the SCD) And Malta is a small powerhouse of the lay apostlate.

The charismatic renewal reached Malta in 1975 and quickly spread to every parish on the island. Out of the renewal came ICPE, the Institute for World Evangelization which is formally recognized by the Vatican and now has centres in 10 countries. I have visited St. Gerard's Monastery, the ICPE house in New Zealand. ICPE is currently building a hospital in Ghana and sending missionaries to Albania.

As we have discovered, when you call ordinary people to become intentional disciples and give them solid, personalized formation, they start doing extraordinary things. The Holy Spirit calls them to be and to do that which they could never have imagined for themselves - or for the world.