Charles Caruana

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His Excellency

Charles Caruana
Bishop of Gibraltar
DioceseRoman Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar
Installed14 February 1998
Term ended18 March 2010
PredecessorBernard Patrick Devlin
SuccessorRalph Heskett
Orders
Ordination24 May 1959
Consecration24 May 1999
Personal details
Born(1932-10-09)9 October 1932
Gibraltar
Died1 October 2010(2010-10-01) (aged 77)
St Bernard's Hospital, Gibraltar
BuriedLying in state, Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned
NationalityBritish
DenominationRoman Catholic
ResidenceGibraltar

Charles Caruana

Roman Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar on 14 February 1998 and ordained on 24 May 1998. His retirement request was accepted on 18 March 2010. He died at St Bernard's Hospital, Gibraltar on 1 October 2010 following a bout of ill health.[2]

Early life

Charles Caruana was born on 9 October 1932 in the

British overseas territory). His ancestors were part of a group of Caruanas that settled in Gibraltar from their home in Malta during the 1800s. His great grandfather moved to Gibraltar with his grandfather and his four great uncles. This rendered Caruana a second-generation Gibraltarian. At the time of his birth, his family lived in Lynch's Lane, just off Main Street.[3]

During World War II he was evacuated with his family to London where he spent six months in Notting Hill Gate tube station seeking shelter from the bombings. He was first educated by the Christian Brothers when he was later re-evacuated to Northern Ireland. He already felt a religious calling by the age of 13 to 14, wanting to become a Christian Brother himself. On his return to Gibraltar, he joined the civil service, working in the Central Employment Exchange for four years.[3]

Priesthood

Caruana eventually went off to St. John's Seminary, Wonersh, Guildford in the United Kingdom, where he spent six years studying. He was

parish priest for 12 years. He later returned to the cathedral to take on the role of administrator. He also spent some time as prison chaplain at Moorish Castle.[3]

Roman Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar

On 14 February 1999, Father Caruana was the second Gibraltarian to have been appointed

redemptorist priest Ralph Heskett.[5]

Honours

Bishop Caruana was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2008, receiving the award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in March 2008.[3] He was also invested in 2003 by HRH Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, as a Knight Commander of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George.

In December 2011 Polish President Bronisław Komorowski posthumously awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.[6][7]

Bishop Caruana Road on Gibraltar is named in his honour.

Gibraltar Song Festival

Bishop Caruana was instrumental in initiating the

Community Centre. The festival became so successful that the festival was to become an annual event.[3][8]

Works

Bishop Caruana is the author of several books about his home town. In 1989 he published The Rock Under A Cloud. In 2009, he authored History of Our Lady of Europe, a book published by the

Vatican Press as part of the commemoration of the 700 years of devotion of Our Lady of Europe, one of the Catholic patron saints of Gibraltar.[9]

Death

Bishop

pontificals, lay in state at the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned until his funeral, allowing the public to file past the catafalque to pay their respects. His funeral was on Tuesday 4 October 2010 at John Mackintosh Square, where his body was carried in procession from the cathedral. After the service he was buried in the crypt beneath the cathedral.[10]

References

  1. ^ "A Golden Jubilee for Bishop Caruana" Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c "Former Bishop Caruana has died" Archived 27 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b c d e Richard Cartwright (August 2008). "Personality profile" [Charles Caruana, Bishop of Gibraltar]. Insight. Gibraltar: 8–13.
  4. ^ ""Bishop Charles Caruana resigns from office at 75 years"". Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  5. ^ "New Catholic Bishop for Gibraltar". Gibraltar Chronicle. 18 March 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Posthumous Honour for Bishop Caruana". Gibraltar Chronicle. 18 April 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 15 grudnia 2011 r. o nadaniu orderów i odznaczeń" (in Polish). Monitor Polski. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Gibraltar Song Festival history". Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  9. ^ "Vatican press publishes 'Our Lady of Europe' book" Archived 9 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, 5 May 2009
  10. ^ Mascarenhas; Mendez, Alice; Clive (2 October 2010). "Priest, Bishop and a Great Gibraltarian: Rock Mourns Charles Caruana". Gibraltar Chronicle. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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