Mgr. Joseph Carabott, or Father Joe as I carried on addressing him with affection, was parish priest in Marsascala when I arrived there in 1975. In 1976 he was transferred to Siggiewi to become the next archpriest over there. In 1981 het was made Archpriest of Mosta. When he retited he was created a canon (monsignor) of the Cathedral Chapter. He spent his last years in Dar tal-Kleru in Birkirkara and dieds in January 2022. He was buried in his native city Zejtun, where I searched in vain for his grave.
Our first meeting was the start of a lifelong friendship.
For me, a Dutch Protestant, he was my mentor into the Catholic Church of Malta. I learned so much from him and I am still grateful for all the things he shared with me. He had a great sense of humour. My essay The Kappillani: The Changing Position of the Parish Priest in Malta profited greatly from his generous input.
In my research notes I found about 40 pagers handwritten notes of conversations we had together. I need to summon the courage, and it will take a lot of time, to rework this very interesting material – which I previously used in my publications – once again.