Order of Malta: “We women grateful to the Pope who wanted to give us importance”

The Pope, with the new Constitutional Charter, definitively recognized the right to vote also for women of the Order of Malta. “The most important element – observes to the Adnkronos Maria Emerica Cortese, Ambassador of the Order of Malta in Salvador for twelve years and appointed ambassador to Lebanon in June – if we make a comparison with the past is that in many paragraphs of the Charter the term ‘knight ‘has been replaced by’ member ‘. In this way the Pope wanted to give importance to us women too “. The relationship between Knights and Dames remains unbalanced: 104 to 8, as in the vast majority of realities. “Women – observes the Ambassador of the Order of Malta – are 27 per cent of the Order. I entered the Order very young, I also worked with youth groups and I have never been hindered. always felt very supported “. Over time, the Ladies of the Order of Malta have bravely made their way. “In 1700 – recalls Maria Emerica Cortese – the ladies were not Ladies, they could be awarded the honoris causa Melitense cross”. The category of Ladies was formalized much later when, the SMOM ambassador recalls, “women enter into obedience, in the second class”. It must be said that among the women of the SMOM some, in addition to holding representative positions, took part in previous elections. “In the State Council that elected the Grand Master Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre – recalls Maria Emerica Cortese – there were three women presidents of the National Association. Now the Pope, and those who worked on the new norms, wanted to give us importance ” black on white. Ultimately, women in the Order of Malta play the lion’s share above all in pilgrimages, in working for the least, at the service of the sick. “The woman in this case – observes the ambassador Maria Emerica Cortese – has a great role as head nurse, as a nurse, as a sedan chair. a doctor who worked in the Order’s infirmary in Valletta “. Maria Emerica Cortese, twelve years in El Salvador as ambassador, in July had the appreciation for her new post in Lebanon where the Order of Malta is doing a great job . “The Order – explains the ambassador – has had a medical center since 1985 in a terrible area, in southern Lebanon. Created together with the Imam Sadr foundation, a Lebanese Shiite philanthropist who created orphanages and schools. He strongly believed in women. ; here he has created structures that treat women “. There is also a nursing school where more than 400 professional nurses have graduated with a clinic run by Shia women. And then mobile clinics. Lebanon also has to deal with the grain and energy problem due to the war in Ukraine “The Order of Malta – explains the new ambassador to Lebanon – has created the ‘Healthy we grow up’ project: it trains local farmers and promotes production local in a phase of serious economic crisis “.