Order of Malta, the election of the new Grand Master in November: tensions over tradition and reforms

Rome will soon be the scene of the election of a Head of State. But it is not a question of identifying the successor of President Mattarella, but of the election of the Prince Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. A real Head of State, who should presumably be chosen close to the expiry of the mandate of the Lieutenant of Grand Master Commendator Fra ‘Marco Luzzago, elected as regent for a year on 8 November last. The election mechanism has undergone only a few corrections to date, preserving the principles that the Order gave itself with its foundation in 1048. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (or, more fully, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Cyprus, Rhodes and Malta) is at the same time a lay religious order of the Catholic Church since 1113 and a primary subject of international law, with active diplomatic relations with over 100 countries and with the European Union, has the status of Observer Permanent at the United Nations and active in approximately 120 nations. The Prince Grand Master is the only Head of State and Sovereign in the world to have the rank of Cardinal, even if he does not participate in the conclave. Adnkronos talked about it with the Marquis Don Carlo d’Ippolito di Sant’Ippolito, Knight Balì Grand Cross of Justice of the Order who from 2011 to 2013 held the first High Office (hierarchically second only to the Grand Master) or that of Grand Commander elected by the General Chapter and Member of the Sovereign Council from 2006 to 2011. “I confirm that we must go and elect the new Prince Grand Master _ specifies Fra ‘Carlo d’Ippolito, who in 2005 made his solemn vows thus becoming a Knight of Justice (also said Professed) _ in our Constitutional Charter, in article 23, it is in fact established that the Lieutenant of the Grand Master must reconvene the Council Complete of State before the expiry of his mandate. It is a peremptory duty with a precise deadline. A precise rule to avoid long lieutenancies and institutional maneuvers, so much so that that of Grand Master is the only position for life in the Order. There is also a juridical condition that does not allow the extension of the Magistral Lieutenancy Office beyond the year which expressly represents the maximum time limit. “” It will be a complex election, these are delicate moments for the Order _ continues Fra ‘Carlo d ‘Ippolito _ it is necessary to restore rigor and morality among our ranks, to let all the truly Melitensi Vocations breathe, not only those of us Professed Knights. Our cardinal point must be the papal message, we must go back to listening to the Supreme Pontiff: His Holiness Francis it is clear, pay attention to the new poverties, I am thinking of the teachers, who have such a decisive role but insufficient incomes, I am thinking of the divorced. New dignified poverties, compared to the cried poverties. However, we cannot exempt ourselves from remaining faithful to ourselves, to our religious and aristocratic-military tradition because that is what we are or, not out of vanity but out of service to the Other, regardless of His creed. Right space in the life of the Order also for those who, due to their peculiarities and by marrying the mission of the Giovannita Cavalry, deserve to be received in the Melitense Family. Then a line of interventions, to bring young people closer, without losing sight of the fact that the Poor Lords and the Sick Lords are the mission of the Order. A mission without borders and without distinctions: I remember that in our hospitals, as in that of Bethlehem for example, Arabs, Jews and Christians are hosted and treated simultaneously. We need to find a balance in sensitivity to the Pope’s message, rediscovering the tradition and pride of the Order and of being Knights. It is unthinkable that the Sick Lords are not treated with the respect that our charism imposes, it is unthinkable that silence will bring Knights who hold relevant offices, free to take away the dignity of work from those who, despite their frailties, have served the Institution. It will also be important to invest in the cultural dimension of the Order, for example by reintroducing a Melitense faculty of medicine, which in Malta had given the first female doctor in 1772, and by animating a chair of Melitense law “.” For all this, new ones are not necessarily needed. rules, Knights are needed who are faithful to the nature and peculiarity of the identity that is proper to us in fidelity to the Church of Christ. Those who think that the Figure of the Knight of Malta is dead and buried does not seem to be able to read the current events of all those People who still try to get closer to chivalric ideals today. Many try variously to establish more or less chivalrous associations, increasingly pressing realities. It is no longer just the phenomenon of fake orders of chivalry, which among other things are strengthening in the silence of many and in the inattention of the media “.” To get there, however, we need a Grand Master in the fullness of his powers, to give order to the discussion, listening to all the voices. There has been talk of a reorganization that could democratize the Order, but principle one is one cannot be adopted – observes d’Ippolito gravely – and would risk denying the singular peculiarity of the value of the Person. A reform of behavior is needed: acceptance, but when necessary that firmness that a Knight of John has the duty to give. We cannot erase our history and our identity; with an unthinking “reform of the papers” we risk losing our almost millennial DNA: we are a state, we cannot be reduced to one of the many NGOs. What must animate us is an unshakable morality: to serve the Order and not to use the Order “.