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Dr. Herbert Ganado
(originally posted in Facebook, 25th June, 2023) Before the war Dr. Ganado (1906-1979) was president of the Catholic Action and editor of its newspaper Lehen is-Sewwa. In 1939 he was interned by the British because of my pro-Italian sympathies and later exiled to Uganda. In the sixties he left the Nationalist Party and founded the…
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Meeting Mr. Speaker
(Originally posted on Facebook, 19th May 2023) Emmanuel Attard Bezzina (1921-1988) Emmanuel Attard Bezzina was a pharmacist, who had been a Labour MP since 1947. In June 1971 he was elected to be the first Labour Speaker of the House of Representatives since independence. His charming wife had been a Labour MP as well, so…
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Dr. Censu Tabone
(originally posted on Facebook, 2nd May 2023) Later on I will tell more about my meetings in Parliament with Maltese politicians of both political parties. Here I would like to share already a funny story. One of the people I met was Dr. Censu Tabone (1913-2012), deputy leader of the Opposition. As he had to…
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My first trip to Gozo
(originally posted on Facebook, 24th April) In those days Father Charles was making a popular tv-program called Djalogu. He invited me to join his crew and collected me very early in the morning from St. Paul’s Bay on the way to the ferry. I was surprised to see that the ferryboat originally had been in…
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Getting accustomed
(originally posted on Facebook, 19th April 2023) In the meantime we tried to get ourselves accustomed to living in Tal-Furi in particular and to Malta in general. Whenever there was time for a drive we would explore another part of the island. The children loved it when we would eat out. Especially The Wimpy (Valletta,…
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My first procession
(originally posted on Facebook, 18th April 2023) The very first procession I ever watched was Our Lady of Sorrows in Valletta on Friday 13th April. It amazed me many times and I took notes to remember everything later. The procession started from and ended in the church of Ta’Giesu. I did not know that the…
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Getting to know the Church
Originally posted on Facebook, 13th April I was supposed to study Church-State relations in Malta, but had hardly any knowledge about the Church I was going to study. I was raised in a Protestant family in Rotterdam. My mother told me that, before she was married, she was employed as a pharmacist’s assistant. Her employer…
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Our oldest friends
(originally posted on Facebook, 11th April 2023) On 8th April we got a visit from Marion and Edgar Causon. I had phoned them up after our arrival as we had mutual Dutch friends. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Both were very much interested in my research. From then on I was always…
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Easter
(originally posted on Facebook, 9th April 2023) There are many Easter processions in Malta, but I love especially the ones in Cottonera, where they run with the statue of the Risen Christ and shout at their counterparts in the rivalling town. For the Dutch: a kind of Feyenoord-Ajax, but much less violent, although sometimes there…
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Figolli
(originally posted on Facebook, 8th April 2023) Thinking about the Maltese figolli makes me very nostalgic From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Figolla is a Maltese pastry stuffed with a marzipan-like filling and served as an Easter sweet.[1][2][3] These are often shaped like hearts, crosses, stars, fish, bunnies, any symbol which links to Christianity, particularly Catholicism,…