On 22 January 1984 , Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi died at the age of 99, closing a chapter that had shaped Malta’s political, religious and social life for much of the twentieth century. Few individuals exercised comparable influence over the islands during a period marked by war, decolonisation, ideological conflict and rapid social change. His episcopate, which lasted from 1944 to 1976, coincided almost exactly with Malta’s transition from a British fortress colony into an indep