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Title: The Order of Malta has a new head, but has it lost its sovereignty?
Originally reported on www.catholicnewsagency.com by Andrea Gagliarducci
Classification: IPTC: 01026002 • IAB-QAG: IAB12-1
Perhaps what lies behind Pope Francis’ forceful intervention is the fear that most of the order’s members still want to oppose the idea of ??reform that he has in mind.
Generational change
The choice of Dunlap favors the idea of ??a new generation. He is a lawyer specializing in corporate and immigration law, and a legal adviser to the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He has been in the Order of Malta since 1996 and made his perpetual vows as Knight of Justice in 2008. Since 2014, he has served on the Sovereign Council.
In a June 13 letter to the order, published by the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Pope Francis recalled the popes’ role in protecting the Knights of Malta. He also noted how popes including Pius XII and John XXIII had intervened in the order’s affairs for the good of the institution.
“Unfortunately, new events and circumstances seem almost to want to prevent the Order of St. John the Baptist from making the necessary path of renewal in fidelity to the original charism,” the pope wrote.
“Indeed, the premature death of the Lieutenant of Grand Master Fra’ Marco Luzzago, in addition to causing the temporary arrest of the reform process, risks further accentuating the tensions that still exist.”
Dunlap’s appointment was made “notwithstanding any rule or provision of law to the contrary contained in the Constitutional Charter or the Melitense Code, as well as any privilege or custom, even noteworthy ones, which may be contrary to this decision of mine, aimed at the greater good of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta.”
Pope Francis also confirmed that Cardinal Tomasi would continue to exercise “all the faculties and prerogatives already granted to him in the past, and in particular in my letter of Oct. 25, 2021.”
That letter gave Tomasi full powers to draft a revised constitution, convene a council to discuss the constitutional charter and the code, convoke an extraordinary Chapter General, renew the Sovereign Council, and convene the Complete Council of State for the election of a new Grand Master.
The question of sovereignty
Pope Francis’ idea is to treat the Order of Malta as a whole as a religious order and, therefore, directly subject to the pope. But in reality, the religious element is limited to the knights who make perpetual vows and live as friars.
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Pope Francis wanted a working group to be established around the Lieutenant of the Grand Master, along with the reform group around Cardinal Tomasi. The two groups presented two contrasting proposals for reform.
Tomasi’s group believes that the professed knights should lead the order. The group set up by Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager calls instead for a more collegial style of government.
The two visions have shaped the debate ever since Pope Francis launched the reform process in 2017, after he accepted the resignation of the Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing in the middle of an internal governance crisis.
The debate over the new constitution intensified after the death of Festing’s successor, Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguineto, in 2020. After Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Pope Francis’ first delegate to the order, had to step aside, the pope appointed Tomasi as the new delegate.
The order has diplomatic relations with more than 100 states and permanent observer status at the United Nations. Although it possesses no real territory, it has the hallmarks of sovereignty, such as its own official currency, postage stamps, and vehicle registration plates.
Cardinal-designate Ghirlanda maintains that authority in the Order of Malta derives from religious consecration. This idea is valid only if the order is considered primarily as a spiritual body. The emphasis on the order’s religious character could arguably jeopardize its sovereignty, as it would be controlled by the head of another state (Vatican City).
From an External Source.