The Professionalization of the Clergy Parish Priests in Early Modern Malta

This article engages with the role of the parish priests in Malta in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It focuses especially on their degree of professionalization by examining their relations with the bishop and with the other members of the clergy and the laity. It concludes that, as in ot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHistorical reflections Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 17 - 35
Main Author Ciappara, Frans
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Waterloo Berghahn Books, Inc 01.03.2023
Subjects
Clergy
Councils
Feuds
Laity
Money
Nominations
Parishes
Priests
Professionalization
Training
France
United Kingdom
Malta
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Summary:This article engages with the role of the parish priests in Malta in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It focuses especially on their degree of professionalization by examining their relations with the bishop and with the other members of the clergy and the laity. It concludes that, as in other countries, it was difficult for the decrees of the council of Trent to be fully implemented in Malta. If some parish priests were diligent in exercising their duty, others preferred to put their personal interests before those of their flock. For some, the gaining of money was their besetting sin with the result that running feuds were an inseparable part of most parishes.
ISSN:0315-7997
1939-2419
DOI:10.3167/hrrh.2023.490102