Pope Francis will spend this weekend in Malta, as announced in February by the Vatican.
The trip to Malta will be Pope Francis’ 36th Apostolic Journey outside of Italy, who during his pontificate has touched 51 nations.
The visit to Malta was planned for May of 2020. Then, unfortunately, because of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided, prudently, to postpone the trip. The first hypothesized date was last December but in that case, there were no official communications. Now, finally, the trip has been planned for the beginning of the spring, during Lent.
The Journey’s theme is ‘They Showed Us Unusual Kindness’ (Acts 28:2) and highlights the plight of migrants crossing the Mediterranean toward Europe as well as promotes evangelization in the country. The visit’s logo shows open hands from a ship reaching out toward a Cross.
The theme also recalls the hospitable and warm welcome St. Paul received in 60 A.D. when his boat was shipwrecked and washed up on the shores of Malta. Matteo Bruni recalled that Pope Francis dedicated the January 2020 General Audience catecheses to the welcome of St. Paul by the Maltese.
Statistics of the Catholic Church in Malta as of 31 December 2020 (from the Central Office for Church Statistics)
Table 1 – Population and ecclesiastical structure
Table 2 – People engaged in activities of the apostolate
Table 3 – Indicators of pastoral workload
Table 4 – Priestly vocations
Table 5 – Educational centres owned / managed by ecclesiastics or religious
Table 1 – Population and ecclesiastical structure
| Area (km2) | 316 |
| Population (in thousands) | 478 |
| Density (inhabitants/km2) | 1,513 |
| Catholics (in thousands) | 408 |
| Catholics per 100 inhabitants | 85.2 |
| Ecclesiastical circumscriptions | 2 |
| Parishes | 85 |
| Other pastoral centres | 10 |
| Catholics per pastoral centre | 4,295 |
Table 2 – People engaged in activities of the apostolate
| Bishops (situation at 31.10.2021) | 6 |
| Diocesan priests | 411 |
| Religious priests | 305 |
| Total priests | 716 |
| Permanent deacons | – |
| Men religious (other than priests) | 33 |
| Professed women religious | 797 |
| Members of secular Institutes | 35 |
| Lay missionaries | – |
| Catechists | 1,249 |
Table 3 – Indicators of pastoral workload
| Catholics per priest | 569 |
| Catholics per pastoral worker | 327 |
| Priests per pastoral centre | 7.54 |
| Priests per 100 people engaged in activities of the apostolate | 25.5 |
Table 4 – Priestly vocations
| Minor seminarians | – |
| Major seminarians | 48 |
| Major seminarians per 100,000 inhabitants | 10.03 |
| Major seminarians per 100,000 Catholics | 11.78 |
| Major seminarians per 100 priests | 6.70 |
Table 5 – Educational centres owned / managed by ecclesiastics or religious
| Schools: | |
| Pre-school and primary | 48 |
| Lower middle and secondary | 24 |
| Higher and university | 2 |
