The Maltese Franciscan Province of St. Paul the Apostle has opened the doors of St. Anthony’s Friary in Ghajnsielem, Gozo, to welcome senior citizens. This has been achieved with an agreement signed on the 26th November, 2014 between the Maltese Franciscan Province and the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing.

That part of the Friary which served as a retreat house and doubled up as a place where one could also be hosted for a few days of rest or simply a holiday, will now be used by the said Parliamentary Secretariat, which will be responsible to run various services for the benefit of senior citizens, such as a day centre and a night shelter. It may also be used as a respite centre. The resident fraternity will be offering pastoral services too and spiritually accompany all those who will be making use of these new facilities provided by the above mentioned Parliamentary Secretariat in conjunction with the Maltese Franciscan Province. Talks have been going on for some time, since last Summer actually.

It is a great pleasure for us Franciscans to be doing so, as in conformity with the teachings of Pope Francis, we will be making available any unused space in our houses to offer help and support to different persons in our society with different needs. Other than offering these much needed services in our sister island of Gozo, this will also help to bring new life to the adjoining church, the friary and the surrounding residential area. Other such projects are in the pipeline. With God’s unfailing help, hopefully these too will come to fruition. A heartfelt thank you to all those who have been involved in this project and to all those who in the past had the vision and the ability to helped develop structurally the place as it is today. This has made it more possible to achieve this result.