Masses being advertised prior to a buffet lunch at a Sliema hotel are not being celebrated by a catholic priest, and are therefore not catholic masses.

Persons who enquired with the hotel told this newspaper that there was no specification in the advert, but since Malta is a catholic country the vast majority of people assumed that the Mass being celebrated was indeed catholic.

The mass takes place on Sundays, prior to lunch, at around 11/11.30. The venue of the mass changes within the hotel, depending on hall usage of the day. What irritated people who attended the mass was that the information in the advert is misleading, and the mass was used to entice people to the hotel’s buffet lunch.

Contacted by The Malta Independent, a spokesman for the Curia said the Curia had received information about the matter.

He confirmed that it is not a Catholic Mass, adding that “since many of those who attended assumed that a catholic mass was being celebrated, the clergy and religious are now in a position to inform people accordingly when asked.”

“Celebrations of mass held outside a church require the necessary authorisation from the Archbishop or the Vicar General,” the spokesperson added.

It is as of yet unknown whether the person celebrating mass for the hotel is Maltese or not, as neither the person who enquired with the hotel nor the Curia was able to answer this question.