Bishop Salvatore Micalef. Photo: X/Twitter A self-professed Catholic bishop and primate, who was ordained to the priesthood by the excommunicated Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo in 2009, and who’s built a following in part on the basis of performing exorcisms, has been denounced by both the dioceses of Fatima and Rome as a fraud.
Self-professed Bishop Salvatore Micalef, born in a small town in southern Italy in 1974, presents himself as a bishop and primate of an international Catholic prelature called ‘Sts Peter and Paul’. Under that guise, he’s organised liturgies which include healings and exorcisms in various parts of the world, including both the famed Marian sanctuary of Fatima in Portugal and in the city of Rome itself.
In fact, there is currently only one personal prelature in the Catholic Church recognised by the Vatican, which is Opus Dei.
Last year, the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima in Portugal distanced itself from so-called “Healing and Liberation” retreats held in hotels near the shrine, with the participation of Micalef.
A statement signed by Fr Jorge Guarda, vicar general of the diocese, stated that Micalef “was ordained priest and bishop without a mandate from the Holy Father” and therefore “is not in communion with the Holy See”.
The statement, issued in June 2023, indicated that the case had also been referred to the Vatican.