Fr. Pierre Desira was born on January 11, 1973, in Zejtun, Malta. In October 1990, Pierre was received into the Order of Saint Augustine. A year later, he began his academic course at the University of Malta, graduating with a BA in Philosophy in 1994. After the noviciate year in the Order at Tolentino Monastery (Le Marche), Italy, Pierre took his first vows on the 27th of August 1995 and his perpetual vows on the 27th of September 1998.

Between 1995 and 1998, he obtained his SThB at the University of Malta and his SThL at the Instituto Patristico Augustinianum, in Rome, between 1998 and 2001. In 2003, he obtained a Masters in Theology and Patristic Sciences from the same institute with a thesis on “Augustine’s use of the idea of Carthage in his construction of a Christian Carthaginian identity”.

Between 2006 and 2010, Fr. Pierre was Vice-Rector of St. Augustine’s College, Pietà, Malta.
Since 2006, he has also been Associate Director of the Augustinian Institute, where he regularly lectures on Augustine and Augustine’s anti-Donatist treatises.
From 2014 to date, Fr. Pierre is also Treasurer and Procurator of the Maltese Augustinian Province.

After his return to Malta, Fr. Pierre was assigned to the Augustinian community in Pietà (2006–2010), to that in Rabat Rabat (2011–2018), and to that in Tarxien (2018–).

Dr Josephine Attard qualified as a nurse midwife in 1981. In 1991, she obtained a post-graduate certificate in education from the University of Malta followed by a Master of Science in Nursing/Midwifery Education in 1999 and a PhD from the University of South Wales in 2015. Her doctoral research focused on the design and evaluation of a competency framework, addressing the need for a rigorous and validated competency framework to guide the education and practice of nurses/midwives in spiritual care. Over the years she gained clinical experience in the areas of antenatal, intra-natal and postnatal care.

Currently, Dr Attard holds the position of Head of the Department of Midwifery within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Malta. She also serves as a lecturer and clinical supervisor to aspiring midwives at both the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. Furthermore, she co-coordinates the Master of Science in Midwifery course and the Erasmus+ Midwifery student exchange program.

Dr Attard is an active member of the EPICC strategic research network on spirituality and has represented the University of Malta in one of EPICC’s Erasmus+ projects. Dr Attard serves as a reviewer for research articles in The Journal of Religion & Health (JORH) and contributes as a book reviewer for Springer Nature. She also is one of the book editors of ‘Enhancing Nurses’ and Midwives’ Competence in Providing Spiritual Care’ published by Springer Nature.

Rev. Stefan Bonanno received his vocational education in Industrial Electronics at Fellenberg Training Centre in 1982. He furthered his education by completing a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies & Philosophy. In 1994, he obtained his Master in Sacred Theology and was ordained a priest. He served as Parish Priest of Vittoriosa prior to furthering his studies in TV and Film in Rome, Italy. This included a media experience with RAI. Rev. Stefan Bonanno continued to obtain international experience in media through experiences in Ireland and California. In 2004, he continued his education by following a training course offered by BBC.

Rev. Stefan Bonanno has vast experience in the local media sector in both work and academic sectors. He served various roles with TVM of which include being a writer, producer and director. He also set-up his own production company and was Executive Chairman of Media Centre Limited, which forms part of Beacon Media Group Ltd. Whilst serving these roles, he worked with Ministry of Education to introduce Media Studies in schools. He also served on a MATSEC board responsible for the design and implementation of Media Literacy Education subject.

Rev. Stefan Bonanno is founder and chairman of Media for Development Foundation.

Rev. Dr Stefan Attard completed a a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, an S.Th.B. and an S.Th.L. focusing on Pastoral Theology at the University of Malta. He then obtained S.S.L. from the
Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome which comprised a semester at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem. He defended his doctoral thesis entitled ‘The Structural
Scheme Ordering Book II of the Psalter (Psalms 42–72) – A Synchronic
Analysis in 2013′ at aforementioned institute after spending several months
conducting research at the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de
Jérusalem, Jerusalem.

In 2013 he was a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta and in
2014 became a part-time lecturer within the Department
of Sacred Scripture, Hebrew and Greek in the Faculty of Theology within the University of Malta. He contributes in the Commission for the Revision of the
Bible in Maltese and is an academic member of the Malta Bible Society. He has
also presented papers at conferences in Belgium and Slovakia

Fr Reuben Gauci was ordained as a diocesan priest in 2006. He dedicated his early years of priesthood to the parish of St Sebastian, serving there until 2010. Concurrently, in 2007, he began his journey as a religious counsellor, a role he has embraced with dedication.

In September 2010, Fr Reuben began ministering as a full-time religious counsellor at a state college and as the Ecclesiastical Assistant for Żgħażagħ Azzjoni Kattolika (ŻAK). In 2012, he took on the role of chaplain at Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary.

The Archbishop appointed Fr Reuben as Coordinator for Religious Counsellors in state schools. This role was followed by a year, from 2016 to 2017, during which he also coordinated pastoral care in Church schools.

Since September 2017, Fr Reuben has been coordinating the Spiritual Development in Schools Unit, overseeing spiritual growth initiatives for both State and Independent Schools.

Born in Valletta, Zammit received his secondary education at the Lyceum, Ħamrun. Prior to his university studies, he was employed at the Libyan Cultural Centre in Valletta and at the Libyan Embassy in Malta. He was afterwards employed as an Arabic interpreter and translator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later moved on to the Office of the Prime Minister, covering the duties of interpreter and translator and private secretary to the prime minister (1978–86). Zammit read Arabic, Greek, and Latin at the undergraduate level (1988–92) and specialised in Arabic and Semitic studies at the post-graduate and doctoral levels at the University of Malta (1992–98). He served as assistant executive director of the Mediterranean Institute (1996–1999). In 1999, Zammit was appointed a lecturer at the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Studies. He also served as director of the Institute of Linguistics at the University of Malta (2010–12). From 2010 until 2018, Zammit headed the Department of Oriental Studies at the Faculty of Arts of the same university. For many years, he coordinated the Arabic programme within this department. Zammit has published his academic research in a number of local and international journals and books in the fields of Arabic dialectology, Semitic studies, and Maltese. His publications include a study on the qur’ānic lexicon, a Syriac chrestomathy, a translation into Arabic of a collection of Maltese short stories by Oliver Friggieri, and a Maltese translation of the Qur’ān.

Apart from his Semitic and Arabic studies, Zammit obtained a bachelor’s degree in divinity from Heythrop College (London) and a master’s degree in Orthodox studies from the University of Winchester. On June 11th, 2017, Zammit was ordained priest (papàs) of the Byzantine rite and serves at the Greek-Catholic Church of ‘Our Lady of Damascus’, in Valletta.

Ms Marisa Gatt has over two decades of experience in the field of social work. Throughout her extensive career, she has engaged with clients hailing from diverse life backgrounds and experiences. She was also involved in the facilitation of individual and group supervision sessions for helping professionals, in addition to leading support groups.

Currently, Ms Marisa Gatt is actively pursuing a Masters in Counselling at the University of Malta. She has an interest in assisting adults in finding a deeper sense of meaning in their lives.