Roman Catholic Saint. Maltese born Monsignor George Preca, affectionately known as "Dun Ġorġ", founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine who would become the island's first canonized saint, was born in Valletta, the seventh of nine children born to a merchant who later became a sanitary inspector and his wife. Ordained priest by Archbishop Pietro Pace on December 22, 1906 at St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, shortly thereafter, the reply from a sexton teaching catechism at St. Cajetan's parish in Ħamrun where his family had by then settled and where he started serving priestly duties, stating that "God created himself" to a question from one of the boys present on who created God, Preca realized the dire situation of how poorly was catechism being instructed. Thanks to a cigarette, Preca befriended a group of youngsters who would spend time on a field opposite to named parish. Towards the end of January 1907, he invited this group to a spiritual conference held at the nearby Nuzzo church. With the result being successful, the small group subsequently rented a small house at Fra Diego Street, Ħamrun and met there for the first time on March 7, 1907. Initially, Preca called this new society "Societas Papidum et Papidissarum", however after one of the members jokingly remarked that the rented place was so rundown that it looked like a museum, the nickname soon became the name of the group itself and stuck to this day, with the founder eventually devising an acrostic in Latin: M.U.S.E.U.M., (Magister Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus Mundus). The female branch of the Society soon followed in 1910 with the help of Giannina Cutajar who later became the first Superior General of the same branch. In 1926, Eugenio Borg became the first Superior General of the male section of the Societas Doctrinae Christianae and was renowned for his holiness by the time of his death in 1967. Not all was smooth at first, however. Initially, members of the curia began to suspect that the rapid growth and popularity of Preca's movement could have heretical implications, especially as it involved so many of the low skilled and uneducated members who worked mainly as dockyard employees. This led to the vicar general, Msgr. Salvatore Grech to suppress all MUSEUM centres. However, a protest by other parish priests led to the society being reinstated, ultimately received ecclesiastical recognition on April 12, 1932. On Christmas eve 1921, the Society organized the first demonstration in honor of Baby Jesus in the towns and villages of Malta and Gozo. This event has since become a typical aspect of Christmas celebrations on the islands. Father Preca wanted every child who attended catechism classes to take a small crib or statue of the Baby Jesus home for Christmas. Well known for his constant efforts to promote devotion to the mystery of the Incarnation. From 1917, he propagated devotion for the text from the Gospel of John: "Verbum Dei Caro Factum Est" (John 1:14). He wanted the members to wear a badge with these words. Preca learnt to trust in the maternal protection of Our Lady, especially during the difficult moments of the Society. He was enrolled as a Carmelite tertiary in July 1918, and at his profession in September of the following year, he chose the name of Father Franco. He also promoted the use of the Miraculous Medal and in fact wanted the church of the Society's motherhouse to be dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. On May 19, 1951, he blessed the foundation stone of the St. Michael School at Santa Venera, and in 1952, he sent the first members to start the Society in Australia. The Society is today also found in England, Albania, the Sudan, Kenya and Peru. On October 2, 1952, Pope Pius XII nominated Dun Ġorġ as Privy Chamberlain with the title of Monsignor. Dun Ġorġ was mortified. He kept the title for six years until Pope Pius passed away in 1958. Preca died in Santa Venera on Thursday, July 26, 1962, at the age of 82, and was buried in a specially constructed sarcophagus underneath the chapel of the Society of Christian Doctrine in Blata l-Bajda. At a later date, his remains were transferred to the chapel itself. Beatified by Pope John Paul II together with the cleric Ignatius Falzon and Donna Maria Adeodata Pisani OSB., on May 9, 2001, during the Vatican consistory of February 23, 2007, he was proclaimed the first Maltese Catholic Saint. His canonization took place in Rome on June 3, 2007. His liturgical feast is held on May 9.