Roman Catholic Archbishop. Born in Victoria on the island of Gozo, Monsignor Joseph Mercieca entered seminary in his native city, being ordained priest by Bishop Joseph Pace on March 8, 1952. Furthering his studies in Rome, at the Pontifical Gregorian and Lateran Universities, graduating in theology and canon law, Mercieca served as rector of the Gozo Seminary from 1959 till 1969 when he headed to Rome following his appointment as judge of the Sacred Roman Rota by Pope Paul VI. Adviser of the Congregation for the Sacraments and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on July 27, 1974 he was appointed auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of Malta, receiving his episcopal consecration with the titular see of Gemellae in Numidia on September 29 that year from Archbishop Michael Gonzi at Saint John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, serving as vicar general of Malta. Succeeding the said Msgr. Gonzi as archbishop of the metropolitan see of Malta on December 12, 1976, during his thirty years in office, Mercieca - who was virtually unknown before his episcopal appointment - managed to restore stability in the Maltese Church after the bruising political dispute with the Labour Party in the Gonzi years. Threading carefully a new dispute with the Labour government during the 1980's regarding Church schools and church property, he maintained his characteristic tranquillity when he was twice surrounded by angry mobs, when a bomb was placed outside his residence in Mdina, and when the curia was ransacked, ensuring to a large extent that the long-lasting divisions of the 1960's would not return anew. Appointed consultor of the Sacred Roman Rota and member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, Mercieca retired from the pastoral government of his see on December 2, 2006, passing away after years of failing health aged 87.