Joe Vella Gauci studied Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained a priest in 1988 and pursued studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and the Birmingham University. He travelled extensively in the Arab world and contributed through several articles, including his publication in 1991 entitled: Islamic Law and Mixed Marriages in Malta. His Ph.D thesis being Christian-Muslim Relations as a Topos in Maltese Historiography, Literature and Culture. During his tenure as Archpriest of his native Gozo Cathedral parish (1996-2007) he promoted the full well-being of people and reached out to the unchurched, divorced and remarried, homosexuals, addicts, and singles.
Vella Gauci lectured at the Faculty of Arts (Department of Oriental Studies) at the University of Malta, and at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies at the University of Middlesex through Distance Learning.
In 2013, Vella Gauci was appointed Malta’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO as well as the Maltese Government’s representative at ICCROM in Rome. He is also one of the founders and chairs the Board of Directors of Fondazzjoni Kenn u Tama which in 2014 inaugurated Dar Emmaus, Gozo’s first residential emergency shelter on the island. In June 2018, he was appointed as Director for the Gozo Branch Operations within the Foundation for Social Welfare Services.