The Order of Malta has been through a bruising year since, last June, Pope Francis took a close interest in the affairs of the order, demanding reforms and imposing a new constitution to “complete the renewal process”. He named a new leader, ad interim, pending an election, which has just now been confirmed as Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap, a Canadian-born, New York lawyer – who features on the cover of this issue – and appointed a new Grand Hospitaller, the distinguished Italian paediatrician and epidemiologist, Fra’ Alessandro de Franciscis.
Simon Caldwell’s interview with Fra’ Alessandro in this issue makes heartening reading for those in the order who are concerned that its subjection to the Holy See will diminish its standing and reputation. Fra’ Alessandro only took solemn vows in the order in 2017, yet he is clear about the challenges it faces. It was established to care for poor and sick pilgrims to Jerusalem – and the duty of defending the pilgrims militarily in the Holy Land and of defending the faith were added to that role. For the modern order, the care of the vulnerable and sick remains fundamental, and Fra’ Alessandro is well equipped to direct that role, having been the first non-French president of the body which certifies miraculous healing at Lourdes. And given that the order is estimated to have more than £2 billion in kind in its humanitarian aid budget, its administration carries formidable responsibilities.
Fra’ Alessandro thinks the order must adapt to new circumstances – “I think that if we are faithful to our vocation we can be always seeing what new things can be done”, he says. It has responded magnificently to the refugee crisis that resulted from the war in Ukraine. He feels that the order must respond to contemporary issues, including abortion and euthanasia, with positive help for those involved. In fact, the Holy Family hospital in Bethlehem – “a beautiful institution” – run by the order, is a case in point, delivering over 100,000 babies since its founding in 1990, mostly to Muslim mothers.
He is also right to identify an obvious problem for the order, namely the age of the knights and dames. The median age, he says, for knights is 67.2, with those in Brazil and the Philippines 78 and 80 respectively. Further, in the US, would-be knights and dames may be expected to pay thousands of dollars to join. It is one thing to privilege age and experience, and indeed to expect wealthy knights to share some of their resources with the order, quite another to exclude the young and less well-off. When the order was founded, knights would have been much younger. There is plainly a place for the equivalent of squires in the order – younger people, including those with more modest funds.
There are, besides, other questions about the contemporary character of the order. Some knights are worried that the order is increasingly the preserve of lawyers and corporate business people – indeed Fra’ John, who was elected last month as Grand Master by an absolute majority in the Grand Council Complete of State, the electing body, is a Canadian barrister with a trattoria in Manhattan. There was never any possibility that the old requirement could survive in that members of the Sovereign Council (the order’s government) should be of noble birth, but the change in the composition of the order has been troubling for traditionalists.
And what about the speed and completeness with which Pope Francis assumed control of the order? How does its sovereign status in international law – particularly useful in delivering aid in Ukraine – survive being effectively subjected to the Holy See? The Pope had disagreed with the actions of the late former Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing, an Englishman, in 2017, but it was a radical response to impose his own men at the top, no matter how exemplary. He has, however, through his representative to the order, Cardinal Silvio Tomasi, insisted that the order remains sovereign. At times the Pope can give the impression of authoritarianism, and that was the case here.
All this matters because the Order of Malta, which approaches the millennium of its foundation in 25 years’ time, has been a force for good in the Church. It has adapted its original mission to care for the sick pilgrims of Jerusalem and its later role in defending Christian lands to the conditions of our times. Besides, its character as a lay religious order is in keeping with contemporary priorities.
The truth is that there is a romance about the order, with its distinctive uniform and splendid regalia, which resonates today. It has an attraction, as the Grand Hospitaller observes, for the young, as does its historic ethos. The great thing is to unite the historic character of the order, which is dedicated to St John the Baptist, with the younger energies Fra’ Alessandro calls for. That will see it into its next millennium.
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