The arch confraternity of St. Joseph at Rabat 1800-1970s : a social and religious perspective

Abstract

This work seeks to analyse the role played by laymen within the Catholic Church, through the organisation of confraternities, focusing on the Arch Confraternity of St. Joseph which is one of the oldest brotherhoods in Malta and one of the few that is still active today. Over more than 500 years this confraternity attracted numerous individuals to become members seeing their affiliation as beneficial for them both socially and spiritually. The religious beliefs and the mentality of the Maltese society helped these confraternities to work and flourish, but, as the mentality changes and the power and influence of the Church in society decreased, confraternities started to diminish in importance. This is observed both in their social activities, overtaken by the welfare state and their religious importance was also challenged and very few managed to survive. In doing my research, I am greatly indebted to my tutor Prof. John Chircop who was always available for advice on my research and writing of this dissertation. I would like to thank him for his interest in my work and for his availability. This dissertation couldn't have been possible without consulting the Archives of the Arch Confraternity of St. Joseph which was the main source of information for this work. Hence I would like to thank the officers of the Arch Confraternity for giving me full access to their archives, especially Mr. Anthony Casha, Rector of the Arch Confraternity, who assisted me in all my research there, Mr. Paul Galea, Mr. Joe Pearson and Mr. Bernard Schembri. Special thanks also go to Mr. Joseph Azzopardi, Fr. Joe Barbara, Mr. Dominic Micallef, Mr. Marlon Schembri, Mr. Joseph Sultana, Mr. Tony Terribile and Chev. Joseph Vassallo who all provided old photographs and further information from their private collections and which proved useful to illustrate better certain aspects and activities of this Arciconfraternità.