Fr Augustine (Wistin) Vella ocd will be installed as the new parish priest of Ta’ Xbiex by Archbishop Paul Cremona, on Tuesday 23rd November, 2010, during Mass which will be celebrated at 6pm.
Born in Mellieha, Fr Augustine Vella joined the Teresian Carmelites at St Teresa’s in Cospicua as an aspirant in his mid-teens. He was educated locally in Malta, and afterwards , in the UK and in Italy he was ordained a priest in 1975. He eventually served as formation master in Malta and Taiwan; local superior at Cospicua, Tas-Silg and Taiwan; and chaplain in an elderly home. He is currently a religious counsellor in secondary State schools and is also the editor of Carmelite vocational and spirituality publications.
The parish church of Ta’ Xbiex and the Teresian Carmelite monastery are both dedicated to St John of the Cross. The first stone of the church was blessed in 1954 by the Teresian Carmelite Bishop Teofano Stella, then the first Vicar Apostolic in Kuwait. Once completed, four years later, the church was blessed by Archbishop Michael Gonzi who also elevated it as parish church in 1969. Today the Parish of St John of the Cross embraces around 700 families.
Patri Wistin Vella ocd se jkun il-kappillan il-ġdid għall-parroċċa f’Ta’ Xbiex b’effett minn nhar it-Tlieta, 23 ta’ Novembru, 2010. Dakinhar, l-Arċisqof Pawlu Cremona OP se jippresiedi Quddiesa kkonċelebrata li tibda fis-6.00 p.m.
Imwieled il-Mellieħa, Patri Wistin Vella daħal mal-Karmelitani Tereżjani bħala aspirant fil-kunvent Santa Tereża f’Bormla. Il-formazzjoni tiegħu rċeviha hawn Malta, l-Ingilterra u l-Italja. Ġie ordnat saċerdot fil-15 ta’ Marzu, 1975. Kien surmast tal-aspiranti u tal-istudenti f’Malta u fit-Tajwan; kien superjur lokali f’Bormla, f’Tas-Silg u fit-Tajwan; u kien chaplain f’dar tal-anzjani. Illum il-ġurnata, Patri Wistin hu religious counsellor fi skejjel sekondarji tal-Istat u hu editur u ko-ordinatur ta’ pubblikazzjonijiet Karmelitani.
Il-parroċċa f’Ta’ Xbiex tħaddan mas-700 familja. Ilha parroċċa mill-1969 bi knisja ddedikata lil San Ġwann tas-Salib li bdiet tinbena fl-1954 u tbierket mill-Arċisqof Mikiel Gonzi fl-1958.
Source: Archdiocese of Malta
