Acquisition of €70,000 crib for St John’s Co-Cathedral raises questions on source

A small Neapolitan crib acquired by the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation – the joint project between the government and the Archbishop’s Curia – is the latest source of malcontent leading to claims of mismanagement among the Foundation’s staff.

The Shift is informed that the crib, inaugurated by Archbishop Charles Scicluna in 2020 and acquired from a Maltese auction house based in Mosta, has cost the Foundation a staggering €70,000 while the institution is suffering a haemorrhage of millions.

Staff members at the Foundation told The Shift that the acquisition of the crib was shrouded in mystery, both for its necessity and provenance.

The sources insisted that the crib, described as a “waste of funds”, was the idea of the President of the Foundation, Monsignor Emmanuel Agius.

They also claimed that although the crib was acquired through a tender from a low-key antique dealer, there may be links between its origin and a member serving on the Foundation’s Council.

The Shift asked the Foundation whether any council member used to own the crib or parts of it, but the Foundation denied it.

A spokesperson insisted that “the crib’s acquisition was the result of a long process involving a call for tenders and expression of interest which had been approved by the Council of the Foundation at that time.”

“The Council of the Foundation directed and oversaw that process to ensure that a high-quality 18th-century crib as befits the co-cathedral was acquired,” the Foundation added, while not addressing questions on who provided the crib and at what price.

Instead, the Foundation said: “The 18th-century crib was purchased from an antiquarian vendor who participated in this process at a very advantageous price over its market value considering its prestige, era, and origin. This crib can be considered more of an artefact rather than just a simple crib.”

Investigations by The Shift show that the vendor is Zammit Antiques of Mosta. The purchase was divided in two.

The first was a €64,000 payment for the crib itself, which had stood idle at the antique dealership when the Foundation sought to acquire a very specific Neapolitan crib.

A few months later, through direct order, another €6,000 was paid to the same dealer to acquire additional figures for the same crib.

The €70,000 crib was inaugurated by Archbishop Charles Scicluna and the president of the Foundation.

Mons Emmanuel Agius was made President of the Foundation by the Archbishop in 2020 and is a Professor of Moral Theology and Philosophical Ethics at the University of Malta.

On his watch, a multi-million-euro extension of the Cathedral’s museum, which had to be inaugurated in 2019, is still a work in process.