Bishop Joe Grech was born in Malta in 1948. After completing 4 years of studies to the priesthood in Malta he arrived in Australia in 1971 and was ordained in 1974. During his first appointment as assistant pastor, he received the prayer for the baptism in the Spirit from his parish priest. Consequently, he formed prayer groups in all the five parishes where he served both as an assistant pastor and as pastor. Over many years he has been involved in a leadership capacity to many English and non-English speaking prayer groups in the many parts of Australia. In 1993, he was appointed as full time chaplain to CCR in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and is also a member of the Australian National Service Committee. He has also taken part in seminars, retreats and conference as a speaker both in Australia and in other parts of the world. He joined the ICCRS council in 2001, representing Oceania.