On Sunday 9th December 2012, the Parish Church of Xagħra celebrated the bestowal of the Ministry of the Acolyte on Daniel Sultana, a Seminarian hailing from the Parish of the Birth of Mary, in Xagħra. Daniel Sultana was instituted in the acolytate by His Excellency Archbishop Tommaso Caputo. Mgr Caputo visited Gozo to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving to God on the occasion of the termination of his diplomatic mission as Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to Malta and Libya. He started his mission in 2007. Now he will be serving as Archbishop in the city of Pompei in Naples and as Pontifical Delegate to the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary of Pompei.
In his homily, Mgr Caputo gave thanks to God for the various moments that he shared with the Church of Gozo. Among these occasions, he mentioned the death of the young priest, Fr Joshua Muscat in 2009 and the death of the Bishop Emeritus Mgr Nicholas J. Cauchi in 2010. He mentioned also the moments of joy when Pope Benedict XVI offered the Rosa d’Oro to the Marian Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu during the Apostolic Visit in 2010, and the official visit that Mgr Caputo himself paid to the Major Seminary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2012.
Before ending the homily, Mgr Caputo talked about the ministry that Daniel Sultana was about to follow as an acolyte. From now on, his duties will keep him closer to the altar as he will make the necessary preparations for the Holy Eucharist and administer the Holy Eucharist. The acolyte will be one step closer to priesthood, and so the ministry of the acolytate has to help the seminarian in his preparation for the priestly ordination he will be receiving in the future.
When the Mass was over, Mgr Bishop Mario Grech offered a memento to Mgr Caputo, as a sign of gratitude for his services to the Diocese of Gozo during his diplomatic mission, and also for the help Mgr Caputo offered to him personally in the early years of his episcopate.
