SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES – 66 & 67

Mons Albert Pantalleresco – a Senglean who should never be forgotten

An intelligent young man and an extraordinary educator

     Albert Pantalleresco was born in Senglea on the 1^st May 1891. He had a very strong personality and it is very difficult to pen his character in few words. His life bridged two eras. We can look at why he was so well known before the Second World War and what happened to him after the war. So it is fitting that we take three issues to write about this personality. I do not recall that anybody has put to paper his life and I only had slight contact with him when I was very young.

     He had a very strong personality. It was almost impossible not to notice him during a meeting. He used to speak his mind in an authoritative way. He was convinced that those in their right frame of mind could not but be convinced by his opinion.

     Albert Pantalleresco was ordained as a priest in 1915. The Bishop Mawru Caruana had just arrived in Malta. Another Senglean, Dun Manwel Galea was also ordained with Albert Pantalleresco. Dun Manwel Galea was as intelligent as Albert Pantalleresco but they had very different character. Later on in life Bishop Galea and Pantalleresco had various occasions to be on different sides of the fence but they always treated each other with great respect.

     Pantalleresco obtained his doctorate in Theology from the University of Malta. The rather traditional teaching enlightened him and he strove to pass on his knowledge to others. We cannot say that he was a writer because he did not write any books but journalism was very close to his heart. He strove immensely so that Malta could have its own Catholic newspaper. When Pantalleresco was director of the newspaper Lehen is-Sewwa, he showed that he was sure of what direction he wanted to take, but he was also a correspondent of informative articles about Christian teaching. Recently he was described as a ‘journalist’ but he was more that that, he was a ‘Christian journalist’.

     When Pantalleresco was a young man the Grand Harbour was full of British ships, coming and going into the harbour. It was the time of the First World War. The British saw in him a person, who even though young in age was a person respected by all those who came in contact with him. They saw in him the ideal Military Chaplain. He did his stint as Military Chaplain together with Dun Mikiel Gonzi and both had very high regards of each other. Their character was very similar and later on, when Dun Mikiel Gonzi was appointed Arch Bishop of Malta he entrusted Mons Pantalleresco with a lot of responsibilities.

     As Military Chaplain he spent a lot of time on the British warships which during World War One were full of injured soldiers being brought over to Malta for treatment. Our islands had so many injured personnel that it resembled a huge hospital. Once the war was over in 1918 he worked very closely with Mons Dandria in order to establish the Gioventu Cattolica.

     The Christian teaching and Christian formation were very dear to Mons Pantalleresco as we can see in another chapter.

SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES – 67

Mons Albert Pantalleresco – a Senglean who should never be forgotten

He was an inspiration to our schools; the charitable institutions and to the Catholic Action

     Dun Albert Pantalleresco always showed an urge to teach children. He loved children who saw in him a good teacher of catechism and of human sciences. He insisted with his students to be obedient and observe all regulations, even the smallest ones. He also always pressed them to be clean and well behaved.

     He formed part of a group which taught children in the Church of St James in Valletta and a lot of intelligent people came out of this centre of teaching.

     His fame grew a lot when he taught at the Lyceum and the directors saw in him a person they could rely on very heavily. He not only found the time to teach but also managed to organise the school from its roots. It did not come as a surprise when he was made director of all the secondary schools. One of his main reforms was when he insisted that students should be given more time for their studies. He was convinced that once a child moved from primary to secondary school he/she should start to learn to study on his/her own. He insisted that secondary schools should stop having lessons in the morning and in the afternoon. He introduced one session of teaching of five hours a day. In those days the children did not have the transport facilities we now have, and so they could have enough time to arrive home earlier than before and have enough time to do their studying at home.

     Dun Albert Pantalleresco was a good linguist in fact he was very fluent in English, Italian, French and German. Apart from the fact that he was a good orator he wrote a good number of articles both in Maltese and Italian. He was in the front line defending the Church’s rights during the religious-political crisis during the times of Lord Strickland.

     Bishop Caruana entrusted Dun Albert Pantalleresco to run St Joseph Institute and he was such a capable organiser that he even managed to sort out the financial problems of the institute. He replaced Mons De Piro, the founder of this institute, though for a short period of time it was run by Mons Nerik Bonnici. So in effect he was responsible for all the Homes run by the Society. This was a very difficult era, between 1934 and 1940 and Dun Albert went through very difficult times during this era.

     He was one of the motivators in the setting up of the Catholic Action in Malta. The Collegiate of Senglea played a great part in the setting up of this organization. The first meetings were held in Senglea. In those pre war years he was appointed the first National Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Catholic Action. The well known Mons Mikiel Azzopardi, the founder of Dar tal-Providenza in Siggiewi, followed him in this post. Dun Albert Pantalleresco was then elevated to the grade of Monsignor of the Cathedral of Malta. Bishop Caruana had a lot of faith in him but the war had to bring a lot of suffering to Mons Pantalleresco.  

Rector of the Seminary and a Catholic journalist

     During the 2^nd World War Mons Pantalleresco suffered a lot. He was unjustly considered by the British as a treat. As from the first day of the war on the 11^th June 1940, Mons Pantalleresco was interred in the convent of St Domenic in Rabat together with Mons Cavendish and the Dominican P. Gerald Paris.

     In 1942 he formed part of a group of forty two persons who were interred to Uganda in Africa. It was a time of great hunger, sufferings and humiliations. He did not return to Malta before 1945.

     In Malta we had a new Archbishop in Mons Mikiel Gonzi and in 1949 he chose Mons Pantalleresco as Rector of the Seminary. Up to than the students in the Seminary did not even realise that they had a Rector. The running of the Seminary, especially the Minor Seminary, was left totally in the hands of the vice rector and of the Prefect of Studies.

     Mons Pantalleresco made whole sale changes at the Seminary. He introduced strict discipline and the Seminarians could have access even to the Rector. I remember well those days because I had just entered the Seminary. He even suspended me for a day because I did not obey an order given to me by Dun Gwann Sladden, a priest who is well known in Senglea.

     He kept a watchful eye on what was going on and on each and every Seminarian. He gave his advice or warnings where needed. He at time could clearly read the character of the Seminarians in his charge and also foretell their potentiality. To one of the Seminarians he predicted that he would remain in the Seminary and he was right because this Seminarian later on in life became the Rector of the Seminary. Even though Mons Pantalleresco had a hard job running the Seminary he still kept his post as General Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Catholic Action.

     He continued in this task of spreading of the Catholic teaching in the newspapers. Many articles he wrote were wrote under a nom-de-plume but his style and the contents of his articles were a quick giveaway and many could rightly guess who the real writer was.

     Whoever knows his relatives can see some of the traits of this praiseworthy priest who served so well Senglea and Malta in them. His disposition, exactness and discipline can be seen also in his relatives. Mons Albert Pantalleresco died on the 7^th February 1963 at the age of 72.

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