The ceremony of the Dean’s Awards for academic year 2023-24 at the Faculty of Theology was held on Friday, 9 May 2025, at which were present distinguished guests, including Pro-Rectors Prof. Frank Bezzina, Prof. Joseph Cacciottolo, Prof. Carmen Sammut and Prof. Valerie Sollars. Hosted at the Jesuits’ Church Oratory of the Onorati, Valletta, the event celebrated the academic achievements of outstanding students and the Faculty’s commitment to excellence.
Rev. Prof. Stefan Attard, the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, set the tone with his heartfelt congratulations to all students, particularly those receiving awards. He emphasised the pivotal role of academic pursuit and research, highlighting important events that are taking place this year within the Faculty. Among these, he mentioned the Faculty’s collaboration with The Mediterranean Theological Network, the St Augustine Lecture on women deacons in antiquity, the Aquinas Lecture on the Jubilee in the Bible, a colloquium on the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the monthly Research Seminars that explore different facets of theology from an interdisciplinary perspective.
The Dean’s List features three kinds of awards: First in Class for students who excelled overall and placed first in their cohort; Special Awards sponsored by different entities to students who contributed to Maltese society through their research; and Certificates in Academic Excellence for high standards achieved in the respective dissertation of their course.
Award Winners for the Dean's List
A further Special Award in Applied Theology in Recognition of the Promotion of Christian Values and Human Dignity was awarded to Ms Maria Formosa from Dar Bjorn.
Finally, a recipient of the First in Class Award, Sr Rosanne Azzopardi, delivered a speech highlighting the practical and concrete concept of theology as service in Catholic school leadership, emphasising the importance of restorative justice as an approach to be adopted in schools.
At the end of the ceremony, the Dean thanked the Faculty administrative staff for organising the event and the sponsors whose generous support made the event possible: Agenda Bookshop, Caritas Malta, the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission of the Archdiocese of Malta, Foster Clark Products, the Foundation for Theological Studies, and the Richmond Foundation.
Ms Valerie Vella compèred the evening, that included musical interludes by Mr George Curmi.
Award Winners for the Dean's List
First in Class Awards were presented to students who placed first in class with distinction. These were: Marilyn Busuttil (Certificate in Safeguarding of Children and Young People), Daniel Micallef (Post Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Psychology), Luke Vella (Bachelor of Arts [Honours] in Theology with Philosophy), Ian Baldacchino (Master of Arts in Bioethics), Rosanne Azzopardi (Master of Arts Catholic School Leadership), Phyllisienne Bugeja (Master of Arts in Matrimonial Canon Law & Jurisprudence), and Anthony Aggiah (Licentiate in Sacred Theology).
The following Special Awards were awarded in recognition of outstanding performance in research:
- Special Award for Social Awareness, sponsored by Richmond Foundation: Rubi Mercieca (Master of Arts in Bioethics).
- Special Award for Contextualising Theology, sponsored by Caritas Malta: Kezia Althea Sammut (Master of Arts in Matrimonial Canon Law & Jurisprudence)
- Special Award for Ecumenical Dialogue, sponsored by Diocesan Ecumenical Commission: Matthew Sammut (Master in Theology).
Certificates in Academic Excellence in recognition of high standards achieved in the dissertation were presented to Mary Anne Bartolo, Robin Camilleri, and Krista Mizzi.
