Miracles in the waiting room of modernity : the canonisation of Dun Gorg of Malta

• Published in: The Australian Journal of Anthropology
• Main Author: Baldacchino, Jean Paul
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Australian Journal of Anthropology 2011
• Subjects: Secularism > Malta; Miracles; Christian saints > Malta; Religion and politics > Malta; Religion and science > Malta; Preca; Ġorġ; Saint; 1880-1962; Dun; Ular; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/15415; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-6547.2011.00109.x

This study will focus on the persistence of ‘pre-modern’ forms of religious belief in a sec- ular age. By examining in detail the process of canonisation of St. George Preca, the first Maltese saint, this study will explore concepts of the self and relations to the body in a Catholic modernity. The focus on miracles and canonisation in a context other than that of a North Atlantic modernity also allows me to highlight the need to understand the complex relationships among: (i) the official church and believers; (ii) the local elite and the populace; and ultimately, (iii) between religion and science. Lastly, in keeping with the phenomenological and experiential imperatives shared with the contributors to this volume, I conclude this article by outlining what, through an intimate engagement with the religious beliefs of ‘others’, I have come to believe miracles are about: True body event. peer-reviewed