MGR. ANTON GAUCI DONATES POPE PIUS XII’S ZUCCHETTO TO THE MUSEUM

At the end of the Pontifical high mass celebrating St George’s Day on April 23rd, Rev. Mgr. Anton Gauci presented to the Museum ‘Il-Hagar – Heart of Gozo’ a very generous gift. The donation consists of a ‘zucchetto’ or skull cap worn by Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) together with an authentic photograph of the said Pope in an ornate mahogany frame surmounted by the papal tiara and crossed keys, manufactured in Qormi in the 1940’s. The donation also comprises an elaborate ‘mensola’ on which the said ‘zucchetto’ is displayed in a glass dome. Pope Pius XII is intimately connected with St George’s Basilica, since it was the said Pope who elevated St George’s to the status of a minor basilica in virtue of an apostolic letter ‘Merito Dilaudantur Templum’ dated the 6th September, 1958. This is not the only donation the Museum has received from Mgr Gauci. Some years ago he generously donated a precious Eastern European chasuble reputed to have been worn by Catholic priests during the persecution of the Catholic clergy behind the Iron Curtain.