/library/oar/handle/123456789/94931 2025-11-12T22:11:15Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/139996 Title: Inċident u disinn tal-kumpless tal-kappuċċini fil-Floriana Abstract: Sal-proklama ta’ l-10 April 1828, il-Knisja f’Malta kienet tamministra il-ġustizzja permezz ta’ qrati ċivili u kriminali fil-każijiet kollha li b’xi mod kienu jmissu kjeriku, propjeta jew dritt ekkleżjastiku. Permezz ta’ din id-deċiżżjoni, il-Gvern Ingliż, wara li ittratta mas-Santa Sede, illimita il-ġurisdizzjoni ekkleżjastika biss għall-forum spiritwali. Sa dak il-mument għalhekk, f’kemm l-arkivju tal-Kurja ta’ l-Arċisqof u kemm dak tal-Katidral, wieħed isib kwantita konsiderevoli ta’ dokumentazzjoni li iittrata proċessi li dehru fil-qrati ekkleżjastiċi. Sa żmien pjuttost riċenti, il-knisja kienet tgawdi minn numru ta’ immunitajiet, jiġifieri eżenzzjonijiet, li ma kienux jippermettu il-ġustizzja sekulari tipproċedi kontra persuna u entitajiet ekkleżjastiċi. 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/139992 Title: The Holy See and the nascent European commonwealth Authors: Doublet, Nicholas Joseph Abstract: It is in the ‘politics of peace’ that the Holy See’s interest in a united Europe is rooted. Since the publication of the ‘Peace note’ on 1 August 1917, the Holy See has actively promoted the idea of unifying the various European States as a guarantee for a more stable world order and as an antidote to the evils of war. Following the tragedy of the Second World War, the Holy See, under the direction of Pius XII, offered its support to and actively engaged with a range of groups promoting the unification of the European peoples in a nascent project of European unionism. Such a project became urgent in light of the world’s division into East and West, as well as the resulting contrast between the two superpowers, the United States and the USSR, which meant Europe faced the danger of being effectively engulfed on the international stage. In Pius XII’s view, a rediscovery of Europe’s Christian roots was the only safeguard against a return to a state of war, as well as the sole opportunity to resist the illusory peace offered by atheistic ideologies, namely Communism. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/139975 Title: The Jesuits' church conservation project : sacred art as a vehicle for re-evangelisation in Malta Authors: Doublet, Nicholas Joseph Abstract: This paper investigates the Jesuits’ Church conservation project in Valletta, Malta, as a compelling model for how sacred art and heritage restoration can be revitalised into a comprehensive programme of re-evangelisation in a secular age. Rooted in Pope Benedict XVI’s theological vision of the Via Pulchritudinis—the Way of Beauty—it contends that sacred spaces, when restored and animated through artistic excellence, do not merely preserve the past but prophetically engage the present. The study focuses on the Oratory of the Immacolata, where conservation was matched by a cultural programme that integrates sacred music, iconography, literature, and dramatic arts. This multidimensional approach offers not only aesthetic renewal but a pastoral and catechetical space capable of reawakening the spiritual imagination. Engaging with Charles Taylor’s notion of the “immanent frame” and Bishop Robert Barron’s emphasis on beauty as a universal path to transcendence, the paper explores how such programming constitutes a “sacramental interruption”—an aesthetic and spiritual resonance that reaches hearts where argument cannot. By weaving together the theological, artistic, and pastoral strands of sacred expression, the Jesuits’ Church project illustrates how beauty, in all its liturgical and cultural forms, can once more become a privileged path of encounter with the divine in an age of disenchantment. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/139769 Title: The Onorati Oratory : history, artistic significance and conservation Abstract: The Oratory of the Onorati, an integral part of Valletta’s Jesuit church complex, embodies centuries of spiritual Mariological devotion and artistic mastery. Established by the Jesuits, according to the pastoral customs of the Society of Jesus, immediately following their establishment in Malta between the last decade of the sixteenth century and the early seventeenth century as a lay congregation under the patronage of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary within the Collegium Melitense, the congregation soon embarked on the establishment of a separate Oratory for its use. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z