In 2002, the then Fr. Prospero Grech began a formal dialogue on behalf of the CDF with Vassula at the request of Cardinal Ratzinger.  Fr Grech was made a Cardinal in 2012.

Niels Christian Hvidt helped Vassula in all her dealings with the Vatican and he here writes a eulogy of the Cardinal.

Cardinal Prospero Grech has passed away, shortly after his 94th birthday. Fr. Prospero, as Vassula and I mostly knew him, was a lovely and lively gentleman in every way. He was born in Malta in 1925 where he went to schools that taught him the exquisite British English he mastered so well.

Cardinal Grech entered the order of St. Augustine and was ordained in 1950. He held numerous degrees from world-renown universities in Rome, Fribourg, Oxford and Cambridge and became dean of the Augustinian Theological Institute in 1965. He founded the « Augustinianum » Institute for Patristic Studies in 1969 of which he was dean from 1971-1979.  A detailed eulogy can be read at Vatican News here. His meditation to the 115 cardinals at the Conclave that elected Pope Francis can be read here (subscription required).

Cardinal Grech held numerous positions in the Vatican and was a consultant for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) since 1984. It was in this capacity that Vassula and I came to know him in 2002 when an official dialogue between Vassula and the CDF, led by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was initiated with a letter that Fr. Grech sent to Vassula on behalf of the CDF. Vassula and I had met Fr. Grech at a meeting for priests that Vassula held at Dehoniane Publishers a few months before the letter was sent. Fr. Grech became the intermediary of the dialogue between Vassula and the CDF between 2002 and 2004, which was concluded with a meeting between Vassula, myself and Cardinal Ratzinger in November 2004. A detailed report of this dialogue can be read here.

Fr. Grech was always available for advice and council, he was always cheerful and kind and had an impressive wit for as long as we knew him, while maintaining his role as the official consultant to the CDF professionally. Fr. Grech had a personality that was perfectly suited to the position he occupied and it was greatly enhanced by his experitise in Biblical and Christian prophecy.

Vassula and I often had lunch with him and discussed Vassula’s mission and achievements which interested him deeply, as well as topics regarding the Church, politics, family, etc. Apart from his theological competencies, he had a wonderful hobby of photography which he mastered impressively, something Vassula as an artist in particular admired.

Fr. Grech will be missed by all who knew him. May God bless him richly for his kindness and for such a long and full life of faithful service in Christ.

Niels Christian Hvidt