Miracles in the waiting room of modernity: The canonisation of Dun Ġorġ of Malta

Abstract

This study will focus on the persistence of 'pre-modern' forms of religious belief in a secular age. By examining in detail the process of canonisation of St. George Preca, the first Maltese saint, this study will explore concepts of the self and relations to the body in a Catholic modernity. The focus on miracles and canonisation in a context other than that of a North Atlantic modernity also allows me to highlight the need to understand the complex relationships among: (i) the official church and believers; (ii) the local elite and the populace; and ultimately, (iii) between religion and science. Lastly, in keeping with the phenomenological and experiential imperatives shared with the contributors to this volume, I conclude this article by outlining what, through an intimate engagement with the religious beliefs of 'others', I have come to believe miracles are about: True body event.

Secularisation and intimate relationships in a Catholic community: Is Malta a resistant niche?

“…Despite these secular trends, anthropologists, including those writing about Malta (Baldacchino, 2011;Boissevain, 1993Boissevain, , 2006Falzon, 2007;Mitchell, 2002), claim that the secular and the religious may be more closely connected than they appear to be. This is evident in various facets of Maltese society, including those related to the State.…”

“…While Malta may have become a more secular, modern society, Malta's modernity remains persistently Catholic (Baldacchino, 2011;Taylor, 1999). Maltese believers living at the edges of the Church still yearn to partake in the Catholic community even if the Church's morality is no longer seen as a prescriptive, infallible model to be adopted wholly and literally.…”

“…I am not saying this with arrogance because I feel blessed myself but the Church is wrong because a blessing means that where there is love there is the presence of God. Baldacchino (2011) considers Malta to be 'in the waiting room of modernity' as premodern beliefs and practices persist in a supposedly secular society. He points to a number of peculiarities which hardly fit neatly into Taylor's (2007) model of the transformation of religiosity in the West.…”

Visions or Hallucinations? Lacan on Mysticism and Psychosis Reconsidered: The Case of St George of Malta

“…The latter half of the 20th century has produced two canonized male mystics from the Catholic Mediterranean – the renowned clerics Padre Pio in Italy and the Maltese Dun Ġorġ Preca . The Catholic Church has, in some ways, sought to de‐emphasize the role of mystic phenomena in the wake of the reforms of Vatican Council II (see Baldacchino, ). In fact, one author writes of the ‘inherent ambivalence – amounting, almost to distaste – of the saint‐makers when confronted with causes involving visions, stigmata, and other “mystical” phenomena’ (Woodward, , p. 158).…”

“…The modern analytical category or ‘religion’ as a separable domain of social life owes much to anthropology (Asad, ) and much less to the life‐worlds of the people it sought to study. I would argue that even to this day it is difficult to apply such analytical concepts to places like Malta where a porous sense of self still characterizes the experience of society (see Baldacchino, ).…”