|
 Fr.
Joe Calleja, born in Ħamrun in 1933 moved to Msida
in 1942. After completing his studies with the
Franciscan conventuals, Joe was ordained to the
priesthood on the 14th March 1959. He worked at the
Parish church of St. Paul’s Bay (1960-1968) and that
of Rabat (1968-1976). In 1976 he returned to Msida
to take care of his parents and started giving his
services to the Parish church of Msida.
At St. Paul’s Bay he started the Youth Movement
Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara (1960), he reformed the
section of Rabat (1968) and that of Msida (1976).
He was a stage director for Għaqda Tarsus at St.
Paul’s Bay (1961-68) and that of Rabat Dramatic
Company (1968-76)
The fruit of painstaking research , Fr. Joe
Calleja’s two-volumed documented history of Msida,
published between 1989-1990 and his monograph on the
artist Giuseppe Calleja: The Man, the Teacher and
the Artist (1992) are now considered as a timely
addition to Melitensia studies.
Besides his pastoral work, Fr. Joe devoted most of
his time to research and writing dramatic and
religious pieces for the young people whose
education had occupied him for his last 41 years. He
was also for eighteen years a teacher of religious
studies at a local Trade school.
In 1997 The Msida Council honored Fr. Joe with The
Msida Medal of Merit presented by Dr. Ugo Mifsud
Bonnici President of the Republic of Malta.
Some of his works include:- |
