Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat, a pioneer at the Jesuit Refugee Service dies at 62

A pioneer of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Malta, Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat has died, aged 62, the Jesuit community said.

Grech Marguerat died suddenly at the Jesuit community house in Pisa, where he had just returned after a long hospital stay.

“Dear friends, Heaven has welcomed another beautiful soul,” the Maltese Jesuit community said in a Facebook post announcing Grech Marguerat’s death.

The priest was a former director of the JRS at a time when the refugee crisis in Malta was coming to a head. He had been one of the victims of a series of arson attacks in 2006 that also targeted JRS lawyer Katrine Camilleri, and journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Saviour Balzan.

Grech Margeurat served as JRS director between 1996 and 2007.

A renal patient who received a kidney from his sister Maureen Cole in 2006 had spent time advocating for organ donation cards to be introduced in Malta.

He moved to Italy in 2012 where he served as the assistant to the Novice Master at the Jesuit Novitiate in Genoa and carried out pastoral work as part of the Society of Jesus in Pisa.

In a tribute to Grech Margeurat, the JRS described the priest as “a wonderful man with so many gifts”. 

“A natural communicator, Fr Pierre shared with others his gifts of a deep faith, a heart for others, a life-giving spirit, and a passion for justice. All this with his great sense of humour... Fr Pierre was truly one of a kind in so many ways,” the JRS said.

The Maltese Diabetes Association described him as a “good friend” and supporter.