Appreciation – Prof Salvinu Busuttil
It is with great sadness that we at Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Malta learnt that Salvinu Busuttil had passed away. I met him over lunch at the Corinthia two and a half years ago and since that day Salvinu has been one of ACN’s most enthusiastic supporters who had been assisting us since ACN was set up in Malta just over two years ago. Indeed it was through his help and connections that we were able to secure the service of Bishop Emeritus of Algiers Henri Teissier as one of our key speakers at the ACN Conference on Christian Persecution in May 2014. President of the Conference of Bishops of North Africa from 1982 to 2004, Teissier is regarded as one of the authoritative representatives of ecumenism between Christianity and Islam.
Salvinu supported the cause of religious freedom and was president of the Malta Association of Human Rights as well as a generous benefactor of ACN Malta. He was also greatly interested in the world environmental movement.
Throughout his life, he maintained close links with the Jesuit community. He was greatly interested in monastic life, wrote several publications on the subject and stayed at several Benedictine monasteries worldwide.
He was a brilliant economist and academic, much loved by his students as a lecturer at the University of Malta and subsequently as Dean of the Faculty of Arts. His interests were wide-ranging and he held a variety of high level posts during his long and distinguished career.
When called upon to serve his country as an ambassador to France, he succeeded in setting up several Franco-Maltese cultural initiatives. He is best known for being the founder ofan international NGO dedicated to cultural affairs, the Fondation de Malte. This organisation has published a number of research works concerning Franco-Maltese historical relations.
Salvinu was a warm hearted person who was always willing to help others and offer advice. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.
I would like to send my condolences to his family.
ACN Malta
