[SLIDESHOW] Mary Fenech Adami laid to rest as nation unites around family

All photos by Ray Attard

All photos by Ray Attard/Mediatoday

Hundreds of people united around the family of former President and Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami as lasts respects were paid to former First Lady Mary Fenech Adami who died last Friday, aged 77.

A visibly distraught Eddie Fenech Adami led his mourning family as the nation’s highest authorities, the Nationalist Party and hundreds of people attended the funeral in a packed St. Helen’s Basilica in Birkirkara.

Five bishops concelebrated mass together with more than 100 clergymen, namely Jesuits, Birkirkara Archpriest Cannon Anton Cassar  defined Mary Fenech Adami as a “woman who lived Christ every day and made simplicity a way of life,” in his homily.

Many emotional moments characterised the hot summer morning, as tears flowed down the faces of Mary Fenech Adami’s five children, John, Beppe, Michael, Maria and Luigi.

Eddie Fenech Adami sobbed as he delivered the first reading, from the Book of Wisdom that spoke about wives and labouring women who served their ruling husbands.

A long and continuous applause from the hundreds that attended the funeral gave a farewell to Mary Fenech Adami as her coffin was carried outside St. Helen’s Basilica and laid to rest in her family’s grave in Lija.

Numerous hands reached out to touch the coffin, amid calls of ‘Mary, Mary!’ and numerous others reached out to comfort Eddie Fenech Adami.

The funeral set off from Mater Dei Hospital at 08:30am with a police motorcycle escort that reached Valley Road in Birkirkara, where the cortege proceeded on foot accompanied by family and the three band clubs from the locality.

A hundreds lined the streets, the PN administration led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier, party officials and employees paid their respects from near the PN Club in Valley Road which displayed a large banner with a photograph of Mary Fenech Adami and the message: ‘Thank You Mary’.

Eddie Fenech Adami walked behind his wife’s coffin as he hugged his grandchildren, and was followed by his five children and their spouses.

Another emotional moment was when the cortege reached Main Street in Birkirkara and Mary Fenech Adami’s coffin was stopped in front of her home and neighbours cried , applauded and threw flowers.

More applause accompanied the coffin as it entered St. Helen’s Basilica carried shoulder high by Mary Fenech Adami’s four sons, John, Beppe, Michael and Luigi.

The congregation that packed every corner of the church and spilled into the main square, was joined by President George Abela and his wife, and former President Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, present and former Ministers, MPs, the Archbishop Mgr. Paul Cremona, Gozo bishop Mario Grech, the Apostolic Nuncio Mgr. Luigi Gatti, ambassadors, present and former high ranking civil servants and staff from the Presidential Office.

Tenor Joseph Calleja sang the closing hymn from the choir box above the main door as the concelebrating clergy retired to the vestuary and mass was ended.

Calleja had also dedicated the ‘Ave Maria’ to Mary Fenech Adami during a concert held last Saturday evening in Floriana.

MARY FENECH ADAMI'S FUNERAL IN PICTURES