Immediately after Pro Tridentina (Malta) was founded, its archivist Anthony Mangion, nearly secured the possibility to have the Oratory of the Congregation of the Onorati in Valletta available to the organisation for the regular celebration of the Tridentine Mass. At this stage, it is useful to give some information about this place.
The Oratory annexed to the Church of the Jesuits belongs to the Congregation of the Onorati founded in 1600 by the Knights of St John. The chapel is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the relics of St. Onorata are kept under the Main Altar. This present oratory was built at the expense of the Congregation in 1658 and replaces a previous one.
The Servant of God Fr. Giuseppe De Piro (1877 - 1933), founder of the once traditional Catholic M.S.S.P. (to see how much it has deviated, refer to this and this article) was once a member of the Congregazione degli Onorati.
Back to present times, there was opposition to this idea from the local church authorities, although it never became clear whether the then Archbishop of Malta, Paul Cremona, was himself against this initiative.
Unfortunately, nowadays the oratory is being used most of the year as a warehouse, as can be seen in the photos above. The first test for the Catholic Church in Malta to show its filial obedience to Pope Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum failed miserably.
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