The Pope dissolved the leadership of the order, it will be overseen by a temporary government Illustration photo: Flickr.com/Giorgio Minguzzi The order with more than a thousand years of history, which was founded by knights, is going through a crisis and problems that were personally solved by Pope Francis. Pope Francis promulgated the new constitution of the Sovereign Order of Malta by decree. He also appointed a new temporary leadership of the order and set the date of the extraordinary general chapter for January 25 of the next year. The order with more than a thousand years of history, which was founded by knights, has been going through a crisis and problems in recent years, which Pope Francis is personally solving. The distribution of contraception started the problems. More in this text. By decree dated September 3, the Pope promulgated, with immediate effect, a new Constitutional Charter and related Code of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The decree dismisses the holders of high offices, dissolves the current Supreme Council, establishes a Temporary Supreme Council and convenes an Extraordinary General Chapter for January 25, 2023, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. In the text, Pope Francis points out that the order has “always enjoyed special protection from the Apostolic See”, emphasizing that over the centuries various popes have “intervened to confirm its identity, maintain its functioning, help overcome crises, as well as guarantee the existence and the development of the Order, including in its prerogatives of sovereignty in the international sphere”. The identity of the religious order The Pope also reminds that the prerogatives of the order itself do not constitute the set of powers and prerogatives inherent in sovereign entities, as stated in the judgment of January 24, 1953, issued by the Cardinal Tribunal. As a religious order, it is therefore “in its various forms dependent on the Holy See”. As the Holy Father explains, over the years “with fatherly care and interest” he followed the way of the order and appreciated its works in different parts of the world, “also thanks to the generous contribution of members and volunteers, and at the same time he also noted the need to start a deep spiritual, moral and institutional renewal of the whole order, especially and not only members of the first class, but also members of the second class”. The Pope entrusted this “important work of reform” to his special delegate, Cardinal Silvano Mario Tomasi, whom he entrusted with the revision of the Constitutional Charter and the Maltese Code and – in cooperation with the Lieutenant Grand Master – also with the preparation of an extraordinary general chapter. As Pope Francis notes, “many steps have been taken, but there have also been just as many obstacles and difficulties encountered along the way.” Members of the Provisional Sovereign Council In a decree issued on Saturday, the Pope appoints the Provisional Sovereign Council, which consists of: Grand Commendatore (Gran Commendatore) Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau, Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, Grand Hospitaller Fra’ Alessandro de Franciscis and Common Treasurer (Ricevitore del Comun Tesoro) Fabrizio Colonna. The other nine members of the Provisional Sovereign Council are Fra’ Roberto Viazzo, Fra’ Richard Wolff, Fra’ John Eidinow, Fra’ João Augusto Esquivel Freire de Andrade, Fra’ Mathieu Dupont, Antonio Zanardi Landi, Michael Grace, Francis Joseph McCarthy and Mariano Hugo Windisch-Graetz. With the decree, Francis definitively confirms “all the powers that have been assigned in the past” to his special delegate “until the end of the extraordinary general chapter”. “On behalf of the entire Order, I sincerely thank His Holiness Pope Francis and his Special Delegate Cardinal Silvano Tomasi for the care, precision and love they have shown to our Order,” Fra’ John Dunlap, Lieutenant Grand Master and Head of the Order’s Interim Government, said in a press release papal decree. As he goes on to write, “The Order of Malta welcomes the paternal steps of His Holiness, which demonstrate the Pope’s great love for our Order. After carefully examining the various proposals that have been put forward in recent months, the Pope has determined a course that promises to secure the future of the order both as a religious institute and as a sovereign entity”. Read also Fra Marco Luzzago The Deputy Grand Master of the Order of Malta died, he led it in a time of crisis.