Over 3,000 register for Bishop-elect’s Victoria Stadium ordination

Over 3,000 people have registered to watch Bishop-elect Charles Azzopardi ordained next month.

The venue for the Episcopal Ordination will be Victoria Stadium and the Catholic Church has confirmed that a marquee will be erected for the occasion.

The ceremony will be held on Sunday, December 7, and registration is still open for the event.

Initially, when the ordination was first announced, organisers needed to understand the turnout for the event to book an appropriate venue.

It was expected a few hundred would sign-up and locations such as the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned and St Theresa’s Church were considered.

The registration exceeded Monsignor Charles’ early expectations and this new venue, Victoria Stadium, has been identified.

Mgr Charles will hold his ordination the day before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and on the same date Saint Ambrose was ordained in 374 AD in Milan.

The day after the ordination, December 8, Mgr Azzopardi would like to invite all school children in Gibraltar to come to mass together under one roof.

On December 9, he is inviting all the school children who participate in the Christmas carols concert held at St Theresa’s to attend.

For Mgr Azzopardi, the appointment has “felt like a dream”.

He was appointed in mid-September by Pope Leo XIV and, until then, he was the parish priest of St Theresa’s Church and Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Europe.

He recently met Pope Leo XIV in Rome, where the pontiff extended his warmest wishes and blessings to the people of Gibraltar.

Mgr Charles will also be attending a private prayer retreat to prepare spiritually for the deeply personal occasion of his ordination.

People can still register interest in attending the event via www.catholic.gi/ordination