Church history and the Church in Malta
What this domain tests
This section traces major developments in Church history and their reception in Malta. You need dates, causes and consequences, plus specific Maltese evidence rather than legend alone.
Core rules and concepts
- Early Church: apostolic witness, persecution, martyrs, councils (Nicaea 325, Chalcedon 451), and Constantine's legalisation of Christianity (313).
- Major breaks: the East-West Schism (1054), the Reformation (16th century), and Catholic reform at Trent (1545-63). Vatican II (1962-65) renewed liturgy, ecclesiology and engagement with the modern world.
- Malta: Acts 28:1-10 describes Paul's shipwreck, the viper and healing of Publius' father. The tradition is foundational for Maltese Catholic identity, but it does not mean Paul organised the later diocese.
- Early Christian catacombs near Rabat/Mdina and St Paul's Grotto are material witnesses. The Knights of St John ruled Malta from 1530; the Great Siege was 1565. Malta became independent in 1964; the Church is organised in the Archdiocese of Malta and Diocese of Gozo.
Worked example
Why does Acts 28 matter for a question on the Maltese Church? Reasoning: the text gives the earliest literary link between Paul and 'Melita', but it is a narrative of hospitality and healing, not a diocesan charter. Historians use it alongside archaeology and later tradition. So the answer should state both the textual basis and the limits of the evidence.
Traps
Treating the shipwreck as proof of a full ecclesiastical structure; confusing the Knights' arrival with the Great Siege; reducing the Reformation to one cause; ignoring Vatican II's actual documents.