Saint Publius


Saint Publius, also known as Publius of Malta or Publius of Athens, was an early Christian bishop and saint. He is considered the first Bishop of Malta and one of the first Bishops of Athens.
Publius is Malta's first canonised saint, who is described in the Book of Acts as the 'chief' or prince of the island. According to Maltese Christian tradition, Publius' conversion led to Malta being the first Christian nation in the West.
He is venerated in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, with feast days on 22 January and 13 March respectively.

History and tradition

According to Christian tradition, it was Publius who received Paul the Apostle during his shipwreck on the island as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul cured Publius' dysentery-afflicted father.
He was martyred around 125, during the persecution of Emperor Hadrian.

Legacy

Veneration

His feast is celebrated on 22 January in the Catholic Church, which places him as the successor of Dionysius the Areopagite, dating his martyrdom to.
Apart from being patron saint of Floriana, Publius is also one of the three patron saints of Malta, along with St. Paul the Apostle and St. Agatha of Sicily.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, however, his feast day is observed on 13 March, and according to an epistle of Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, he is placed as the successor of Narcissus of Athens, dating his martyrdom to the period of the persecution under Marcus Aurelius.

Namesakes

Various streets in Malta are named after him, including in Sliema, Rabat, Mellieħa, Saint Paul's Bay, Naxxar and Floriana.

Cultural Reemergence

In a 2025 article, James Aaron Ellul quoted historian Giovanni Bonello who highlighted how Gregorio Xerri’s post-1565 poem Inno della Vittoria elevates Saint Publius as a distinctly Maltese symbol of victory, bypassing the traditional emphasis on foreign religious figures. Bonello argues that this literary recognition initiated a cultural reclamation of Saint Publius, previously underrepresented in devotional and liturgical contexts. The article further notes contemporary calls—particularly marking ~1900 years since his martyrdom—to re-embed him in Malta’s national and ecclesiastical memory