Father George Scerri MSSP., was born on May 16, 1910, in Qormi, Malta, and registered as Francesco, second of six surviving sons of Carmelo Scerri, a shopkeeper, and his wife Vincenza Zerafa. Educated at St. Aloysius' College, Birkirkara, and St. Mark's Theological School, Rabat, he joined the Missionary Society of St. Paul in January 1929, and took the religious name of George. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 2, 1938, and assigned to St. Joseph's Technical Institute, Ħamrun, a home for orphans and underprivileged children. While there, he ran a printing-press which published a daily Catholic newspaper.
Between 1958 and 1961, Father Scerri served as chaplain on a number of ships which took thousands of Maltese migrants to Australia and Canada. Based in Canada from 1960 until 1962, from time to time he also attended to the spiritual needs of immigrants at London, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. In 1963, through an arrangement between the MSSP and Cardinal Norman Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney, Scerri arrived in Australia. He was sent to minister in East Sydney, a district known for its concentrations of newly arrived immigrants, crowded boarding houses, gambling dens and brothels. Next year he opened a small chapel in a property purchased at Stanley Street and named De Piro House after the Society's founder, Monsignor Joseph De Piro.
Appointed Provincial of the MSSP in Australia in 1971, Scerri moved from Sydney to Melbourne. The Society had been established there in 1948, and the city was home to Australia's largest number of Maltese, with some 23,000 born in Malta. He had a major impact, not only as a priest who developed trust and respect, but as an individual who was determined to unify the Maltese community. The handsome and modern Ċentru Malti (Maltese Centre), built on MSSP premises in Royal Parade, Parkville, testified to his dedication towards this goal.
On July 13, 1980, Scerri was savagely assaulted in the society's residence, St. Mary's Mission House, Sydney Road, Brunswick, by a person or persons unknown, for a plastic wallet and just $20 in cash. He died from his injuries on August 4, that year in Royal Melbourne Hospital and was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery. The death of 'Dun Ġorġ', as he was affectionately known, horrified and stunned the Maltese community and the public at large. His death was also reported in Malta, where a Requiem Mass was held.
Remembered as having a kind smile for everyone, Scerri was, at the time of his death, one of the most experienced of the MSSP's seventeen priests in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Like other members of the Society, he led a frugal life. He had the ability 'to listen and to offer advice'. Fr. Stanley Tomlin, the MSSP's Superior General in Malta, praised him as a man who 'never drove a car, and yet could be seen in any church, hospital and home at any time'. An obituary in the "Times of Malta" described his life as 'saintly and exemplary'.
Between 1958 and 1961, Father Scerri served as chaplain on a number of ships which took thousands of Maltese migrants to Australia and Canada. Based in Canada from 1960 until 1962, from time to time he also attended to the spiritual needs of immigrants at London, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. In 1963, through an arrangement between the MSSP and Cardinal Norman Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney, Scerri arrived in Australia. He was sent to minister in East Sydney, a district known for its concentrations of newly arrived immigrants, crowded boarding houses, gambling dens and brothels. Next year he opened a small chapel in a property purchased at Stanley Street and named De Piro House after the Society's founder, Monsignor Joseph De Piro.
Appointed Provincial of the MSSP in Australia in 1971, Scerri moved from Sydney to Melbourne. The Society had been established there in 1948, and the city was home to Australia's largest number of Maltese, with some 23,000 born in Malta. He had a major impact, not only as a priest who developed trust and respect, but as an individual who was determined to unify the Maltese community. The handsome and modern Ċentru Malti (Maltese Centre), built on MSSP premises in Royal Parade, Parkville, testified to his dedication towards this goal.
On July 13, 1980, Scerri was savagely assaulted in the society's residence, St. Mary's Mission House, Sydney Road, Brunswick, by a person or persons unknown, for a plastic wallet and just $20 in cash. He died from his injuries on August 4, that year in Royal Melbourne Hospital and was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery. The death of 'Dun Ġorġ', as he was affectionately known, horrified and stunned the Maltese community and the public at large. His death was also reported in Malta, where a Requiem Mass was held.
Remembered as having a kind smile for everyone, Scerri was, at the time of his death, one of the most experienced of the MSSP's seventeen priests in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Like other members of the Society, he led a frugal life. He had the ability 'to listen and to offer advice'. Fr. Stanley Tomlin, the MSSP's Superior General in Malta, praised him as a man who 'never drove a car, and yet could be seen in any church, hospital and home at any time'. An obituary in the "Times of Malta" described his life as 'saintly and exemplary'.
Father George Scerri MSSP., was born on May 16, 1910, in Qormi, Malta, and registered as Francesco, second of six surviving sons of Carmelo Scerri, a shopkeeper, and his wife Vincenza Zerafa. Educated at St. Aloysius' College, Birkirkara, and St. Mark's Theological School, Rabat, he joined the Missionary Society of St. Paul in January 1929, and took the religious name of George. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 2, 1938, and assigned to St. Joseph's Technical Institute, Ħamrun, a home for orphans and underprivileged children. While there, he ran a printing-press which published a daily Catholic newspaper.
Between 1958 and 1961, Father Scerri served as chaplain on a number of ships which took thousands of Maltese migrants to Australia and Canada. Based in Canada from 1960 until 1962, from time to time he also attended to the spiritual needs of immigrants at London, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. In 1963, through an arrangement between the MSSP and Cardinal Norman Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney, Scerri arrived in Australia. He was sent to minister in East Sydney, a district known for its concentrations of newly arrived immigrants, crowded boarding houses, gambling dens and brothels. Next year he opened a small chapel in a property purchased at Stanley Street and named De Piro House after the Society's founder, Monsignor Joseph De Piro.
Appointed Provincial of the MSSP in Australia in 1971, Scerri moved from Sydney to Melbourne. The Society had been established there in 1948, and the city was home to Australia's largest number of Maltese, with some 23,000 born in Malta. He had a major impact, not only as a priest who developed trust and respect, but as an individual who was determined to unify the Maltese community. The handsome and modern Ċentru Malti (Maltese Centre), built on MSSP premises in Royal Parade, Parkville, testified to his dedication towards this goal.
On July 13, 1980, Scerri was savagely assaulted in the society's residence, St. Mary's Mission House, Sydney Road, Brunswick, by a person or persons unknown, for a plastic wallet and just $20 in cash. He died from his injuries on August 4, that year in Royal Melbourne Hospital and was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery. The death of 'Dun Ġorġ', as he was affectionately known, horrified and stunned the Maltese community and the public at large. His death was also reported in Malta, where a Requiem Mass was held.
Remembered as having a kind smile for everyone, Scerri was, at the time of his death, one of the most experienced of the MSSP's seventeen priests in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Like other members of the Society, he led a frugal life. He had the ability 'to listen and to offer advice'. Fr. Stanley Tomlin, the MSSP's Superior General in Malta, praised him as a man who 'never drove a car, and yet could be seen in any church, hospital and home at any time'. An obituary in the "Times of Malta" described his life as 'saintly and exemplary'.
Between 1958 and 1961, Father Scerri served as chaplain on a number of ships which took thousands of Maltese migrants to Australia and Canada. Based in Canada from 1960 until 1962, from time to time he also attended to the spiritual needs of immigrants at London, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. In 1963, through an arrangement between the MSSP and Cardinal Norman Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney, Scerri arrived in Australia. He was sent to minister in East Sydney, a district known for its concentrations of newly arrived immigrants, crowded boarding houses, gambling dens and brothels. Next year he opened a small chapel in a property purchased at Stanley Street and named De Piro House after the Society's founder, Monsignor Joseph De Piro.
Appointed Provincial of the MSSP in Australia in 1971, Scerri moved from Sydney to Melbourne. The Society had been established there in 1948, and the city was home to Australia's largest number of Maltese, with some 23,000 born in Malta. He had a major impact, not only as a priest who developed trust and respect, but as an individual who was determined to unify the Maltese community. The handsome and modern Ċentru Malti (Maltese Centre), built on MSSP premises in Royal Parade, Parkville, testified to his dedication towards this goal.
On July 13, 1980, Scerri was savagely assaulted in the society's residence, St. Mary's Mission House, Sydney Road, Brunswick, by a person or persons unknown, for a plastic wallet and just $20 in cash. He died from his injuries on August 4, that year in Royal Melbourne Hospital and was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery. The death of 'Dun Ġorġ', as he was affectionately known, horrified and stunned the Maltese community and the public at large. His death was also reported in Malta, where a Requiem Mass was held.
Remembered as having a kind smile for everyone, Scerri was, at the time of his death, one of the most experienced of the MSSP's seventeen priests in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Like other members of the Society, he led a frugal life. He had the ability 'to listen and to offer advice'. Fr. Stanley Tomlin, the MSSP's Superior General in Malta, praised him as a man who 'never drove a car, and yet could be seen in any church, hospital and home at any time'. An obituary in the "Times of Malta" described his life as 'saintly and exemplary'.
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