Robert Galea (born 14 November 1981), known professionally as Fr Rob Galea, is a Maltese-Australian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest and contemporary Christian singer-songwriter. Galea has released eight music projects, ''More of You'' (April 2004), ''Closer'' (UK release, February 2006), ''What A Day'' (January 2008), "Divine Mercy Chaplet" eaturing Gary Pinto and Natasha Pinto(August 2010), "Reach Out" (January 2011) and a live concert DVD and live CD entitled ''Fr Robert Galea, Reach Out Live'' (July 2011), "Glorify" Mass setting (August 2013) and "Something About You" (January 2015). Galea has been featured in national newspapers and magazines as well as on TV Channel 10's '' The Project''. He was a contestant on Australia's ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2015 but left voluntarily after boot camp due to parish and youth-work commitments. He is the author of ''Breakthrough'' (2018), a book published in the United States by Ave Maria Press. A movie deal has been signed for it.

Early life

Robert Galea was born in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in 1981. He was raised by strict Catholic parents with two siblings. From the age of 14, he "started frequenting nightclubs in

Paceville Paceville ( sometimes abbreviated PV) is a district in St Julian's which is the main nightlife hub in Malta, being heavily populated with nightclubs, bars, stripclubs, pubs and restaurants, it is hence also known as 'Malta's Sin City'. Pacevill ...

, a hotspot near his home in eastern Malta, drinking, taking drugs and stealing." At 17 he began learning music. Two years later he was signed to a record label and toured Europe.

Priesthood

Galea entered a seminary at age 21 and, after visiting Australia, in 2006 he migrated there in the following year to continue his studies in Melbourne. In 2008, together with Bishop

Joseph Grech Joseph Angelo Grech (10 December 1948 – 28 December 2010

, he co-founded the Stronger Youth Program – a series of youth retreats, rallies and small groups – in the Diocese of Sandhurst, Victoria, which was later expanded to Perth and South Australia. He was ordained to the priesthood on 5 November 2010 by Archbishop

Paul Cremona Paul Cremona, O.P. (born 25 January 1946) (Maltese: Pawl Cremona) was the Archbishop of Malta from 2007 to 2014. He is also a Dominican friar. Early life Cremona was born in Valletta on 25 January 1946 to Joseph and Josephine (née Cauchi) Cre ...

. His first parish was at St Brendan's Catholic Church,

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

. Galea is currently an assistant priest at St Kilian's Catholic Church,

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, in the Diocese of Sandhurst. He also served in Bendigo as a chaplain to Catholic College and the local

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

campus. He has a significant evangelistic and outreach ministry, speaking and singing at schools, conferences and churches around Australia and the world. He and his team minister to about 200,000 young people each year.

Music career

Galea's performance career combines music with Christian messages. Galea has written a number of songs for various campaigns and international conferences. He was selected to sing in the international version of the official

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Li ...

song, "

Receive the Power "Receive the Power" is a gospel song written by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto, and performed by Sebastian and Paulini. It was chosen in May 2007 as the official anthem for the Roman Catholic Church's XXIII World Youth Day (WYD08) held in Sydney i ...

", along with pop idol

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

and soprano,

Amelia Farrugia Amelia Farrugia (often misspelled as "Ferrugia", born 28 July 1970) is an Australian soprano opera singer of Maltese descent. She won awards in the Sydney Eisteddfod and the 1996 Australian Singing Competition, and the 1995 Metropolitan Opera ...

. He performed at events before Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 and an estimated 500,000 pilgrims in Sydney. Galea was a contestant on the Australian version of reality TV talent show ''

'' in 2015, but withdrew "after struggling to balance the demands of the show with pastoral commitments". In September 2017, he issued a single, "Dominoes", with

Ira Losco Ira Losco M.Q.R. (born 31 July 1981) is a Maltese pop singer. Her career breakthrough came in 2002, when she represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "7th Wonder". She placed second in the competition, Malta's best ...

. He described it to Rebecca Iversen of ''

The Malta Independent ''The Malta Independent'' is a national newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide v ...

'' as "a pop song which talks about brokenness of us and all of us. It talks about how we are broken into a million pieces but when these billion of pieces come together, your million my million, they create a work of art.". In 2020, Galea contributed "Silent Night" to CDB's album, '' Christmas Is Here: The CDB Mixtape.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galea, Robert 1981 births 21st-century Australian male singers 21st-century Maltese male singers 21st-century Maltese Roman Catholic priests Australian performers of Christian music Christian music songwriters Living people Maltese emigrants to Australia People from Bendigo Performers of Christian rock music Performers of contemporary worship music