Egidio Galea | |
---|---|
Church | Catholic Church |
Personal details | |
Born | 5 May 1918 |
Died | 3 January 2005 Birgu, Malta | (aged 86)
Buried | St. Lawrence Cemetery, Birgu |
Alma mater | Pontifical Gregorian University ( STD) |
Egidio Galea OSA MBE (5 May 1918 – 3 January 2005) was a Maltese Augustinian Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and educator, and a significant figure in the Catholic resistance to Nazism in Italy during World War II. He was a close aide to the Irish priest Hugh O'Flaherty.
Galea was born on 5 May 1918 in Birgu, Malta. [1] [2] He studied at the Dockyard School in Senglea and later attended the Boys' Secondary School in Valletta. [1] In 1933, Galea entered the Order of Saint Augustine, and after several years studying philosophy, he was sent to Rome in 1937 to study theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, [1] where he earned his Doctor of Sacred Theology. [3]
It was during his time at the Pontifical Gregorian University that Galea met Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish priest who worked in Rome as a Vatican diplomat. [1] O'Flaherty was working to rescue and hide or help escape thousands of Jews and Allied soldiers in Nazi-occupied Italy. O'Flaherty needed help in this endeavor, and Galea became one of his closest aides. [1] [4] [5] During the course of World War II, O'Flaherty and his aides were responsible for saving more than 6,500 Allied soldiers and Jews. After the liberation, Galea was made a member of the Order of the British Empire. [1]
In 1945, Galea returned to Malta, where he taught Scripture to Augustinian seminarians. [1] Between 1955 and 1961, he was sent to Tunisia, where he worked as a missionary and also taught Latin. [1] In 1961, he returned to Malta, and between 1967 and 1971, he served as the Augustinian provincial superior. [1] Between 1984 and 1990, he was a lecturer at the Augustinian Institute at the University of Malta. [1] Throughout the years, he authored several articles and books, mainly discussing Augustine of Hippo, his life, and the Augustinian Order. [1] [3]
Galea died on 3 January 2005 at the age of 86. [1] [2] [3] He is buried at the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery in Paola.
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