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Sir Michael Gonzi | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Malta | |
 Portrait by Edward Caruana Dingli, 1943 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Archdiocese of Malta |
| See | Malta |
| Appointed | 14 October 1943 |
| In office | 1943 — 1976[1] |
| Predecessor | Mauro Caruana |
| Successor | Joseph Mercieca |
| Previous post(s) | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 19 December 1908 |
| Consecration | 20 July 1924 by Maurus Caruana |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 May 1885[2] |
| Died | 22 January 1984 (aged 98) Malta |
Sir Michael Count Gonzi KBE (born Mikiel / Michele Gonzi: 13 May 1885 – 22 January 1984), was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta from 1944 until 1976. He had been enthroned as Bishop of Malta in December 1943, and was consecrated as the first Archbishop of Malta in 1944. He had also been Bishop of Gozo and an elected Labour Senator in the Malta Legislative Assembly.
Gonzi is known for his intervention in politics, having also interdicted the Labour Party and demanding people not to vote for them. Despite this, 43.7% of the population, in 1966, voted for the Dominic Mintoff-led Labour Party and this was interpreted as a decline in the Church's influence and declining religious, social and political power.[3][4] His support for public harassment, mainly politicians, led to an outline of 'Six Points' of church and state separation, where eventually the church was confined to spiritual matters.[3]
Gonzi was a staunch opponent of homosexuality, on his belief that it was a grave sin, "unnatural" and practiced by the "sick".[5] Similarly, he was against equal rights between men and women, and demanded punishment for adulterers.[citation needed] He was in support of the 're-introduction' of the Italian language, instead of promoting Maltese, but his waited opportunism was never realised.[6] He was a social smoker who generally smoked cigars.[7]
- ^ Morana, Martin (2011). Bejn Kliem u Storja (in Maltese). Malta: Books Distributors Limited. ISBN 978-99957-0137-6. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016.
- ^ "Archbishop Michael Gonzi". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ a b https://www.um.edu.mt/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/186506/2012_-_Growing_Secularization_in_a_Catholic_Country-JSESP.pdf p. 576-8.
- ^ Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Bricked by interdiction". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
- ^ "Malta Gay News Library: Leħen is-Sewwa 1973: Ittra Pastorali kontra d…". archive.is. 2014-04-28. Archived from the original on 2014-04-28. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ http://josephmpirotta.com/main/Publications_files/Prelude%20to%20Restoration%20of%20Responsible%20Government.pdf p. 12.
- ^ Vella, Andrew; Vella, George. "Intervista Mal-Arcisqof Mikiel Gonzi dwar il-Karriera Pubblika Tieghu Matul dan l-Ahhar Nofs Seklu" (PDF). Storja. 78 (7). University of Malta: 121–133.[permanent dead link]