The Order of Malta is distinct and is not just a religious organization. According to international law, it is a sovereign state with its own passports, diplomatic ties, and permanent observer status at the UN.
But in light of Pope Francis’ and his delegate’s numerous interventions, how independent is the order?
And what is at risk for a group that operates in 120 nations, with more than 2,000 projects, more than 120,000 volunteers, and a large medical team that provides emergency aid in many poor nations and crisis areas?
Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the Papal Delegate to the Order of Malta, and Fra’ John Dunlap, the Papal Nominated Lieutenant, assigned a number of professed knights to the Grand Priories order in a letter dated July 25, 2022, without informing the Grand Commander or obtaining the Sovereign Council’s consent.
The final action that has threatened the independence of the Order of Malta is Cardinal Tomasi’s.
The decision is framed in Cardinal Tomasi’s letter within the context of the unique authority Pope Francis granted Cardinal Tomasi on October 25, 2021.
The Pope’s order on June 13, 2022, appointing the Lieutenant of Grand Master, confirmed this authority.
Pope Francis violated the authority of the Order of Malta with both of his judgments.
Even before the funeral for the Order of Malta’s previous commander Fra’ Marco Luzzago, who passed away unexpectedly on June 7, Pope Francis named a new leader.
The position of Lieutenant of the Grand Master, which Luzzago held for two years, will be filled by the lawyer Fra’ John T. Dunlap, who was born in Canada.
On June 14, the day of Luzzago’s funeral, Dunlap took the oath of office.
Ordinarily, the Lieutenant of the Grand Master is chosen for a one-year tenure.
However, Pope Francis decided to prolong Luzzago’s contract in 2021 until the election of a new Grand Master of the order, a position that is typically held for life.
Dunlap, who has been appointed the new Lieutenant of the Grand Master by Pope Francis, collaborates frequently with Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the pope’s special representative.
The Sovereign Council, an elected body of government, was also recommended to move forward.
In both instances, the Pope actively interfered with the Order of Malta’s internal affairs, endangering its independence.
It is true that the Order of Malta is a monastic order, and that it derives its power by Papal permission.
It is also true that the Order enjoys its autonomy and independence as a sovereign entity.
It is governed by the Pope insofar as the knights who live as friars are concerned because it is a monastic order.
It is important to keep in mind that there are three classes of Knights in the Order of Malta.
The Professed Conventual Chaplains and Knights of Justice, sometimes known as Professed Knights, make up the First Class.
The religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are made by the Knights in this class.
Despite not being compelled to live in a community, they are defined as religious.
Additionally, they gain from a dispensation of their poverty vows, including the freshly consecrated Profess by Cardinal Tomasi.
Knights and Dames in Obedience, who pledge to obey their superiors and pursue Christian perfection in the spirit of the order, make up the Second Class.
The Third Class is made up of lay people who are dedicated to leading completely Catholic lives in accordance with the tenets of the order but who make no vows or obligations.
To be elected as the Grand Master, the order’s spiritual leader and ruler, one must be a First Class knight descended from a family of four quarters of nobility.
Less than 40 candidates in the sequence may be considered for the post due to this clause.
The Sovereign Council, whose members are chosen by the General Chapter of the order for five-year tenure, assists the Grand Master in governing the order.
The Grand Chancellor, a powerful figure who is in charge of the order’s 133 diplomatic missions, and the Grand Hospitaller, who is in charge of the order’s large humanitarian projects, are both members of the Sovereign Council.
Six grand priories, six sub-priories, and 48 local associations are among the three different categories of national institutions that make up the order.
There are those who carry out all the tasks that have grown through time under the supervision of knights of the second and third Class, where all the possible professional talents are present.
Less than 40 people make up the first class, with most of them being over 70.
While there are 13,500 Members in the second and third classes combined.
While new members and heads of the Grand Priories are typically elected, Cardinal Tomasi personally interfered with them and proposed new candidates.
The Papal Delegate stated in a letter dated July 25, 2022 that the unusual circumstances surrounding the management of the priories had “came to an end” and that the “presence of professed knights with solemn vows” would allow “to return to fully live the religious charism of the order.”
Additionally, Tomasi reported that professed knights had repeatedly stated in meetings that they were “totally available” to accept the responsibility of overseeing the grand priories.
The head and members of the Grand Priories of England, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Bohemia, and Austria were thereafter selected by the papal representative.
The new Grand Priories were likewise obligated by Cardinal Tomasi’s letter to set up their assembly by the end of September in order to conduct elections.
Since no agreement has been reached on a draft with the elected bodies of the order, the Papal Delegate’s letter demonstrates a great desire to advance the reforms as intended, largely by himself and his working team.
Along with Tomasi, Cardinal-elect Gianfranco Ghirlanda SJ has been collaborating on the new constitution’s development.
On June 11, Pope Francis had a private audience with the two.
According to the Jesuit, the Order of Malta’s authority comes from religious dedication.
Only if the order is primarily viewed as a spiritual body does this proposition hold water.
The order’s emphasis on its religious nature might compromise its independence because the leader of another state, namely the Vatican City State, would be in charge of it.
Consequently, the effectiveness of its efforts on the ground was greatly reduced.
The steps taken thus far, by the Pope as well as Tomasi, demonstrate that Ghirlanda’s viewpoint has received considerable consideration in regards to updating the Constitution of the Order of Malta.
Cardinal Tomasi is upholding that justification with his decision to exclusively choose confessed people to lead priories.
However, the vast changes that will be made with the new constitution and made permanent have Order of Malta members really concerned.
CNA talked to a number of knights to better grasp the situation.
The knights emphasized that they “received in humility the Holy Father’s grant of unprecedented power to Cardinal Tomasi over the Order.
“At the same time, they believed Cardinal Tomasi was now obviously going beyond the scope of the Pope’s directives with the assistance of the appointed Lieutenant.
There is a belief that Cardinal Tomasi intends to alter the Chapter General’s membership in order to ensure that his proposed constitution is approved by what might be considered a “false” majority, securing the election of a new Grand Master and displacing the elected Sovereign Council in the middle of its elected term.
It is feared that a similar set of actions would lead to the Order’s sovereignty being overthrown.
In a same vein, the appointment of the Professed Knights to oversee the works will sap their vitality and harm “The Poor and the Sick.”
Early in 2022, some Knights requested that the Pope personally oversee the reform.
In order to promote unanimity, the Holy Father agreed and convened two audiences with the united representatives of the Order and the Tomasi working group.
After Fra’ Luzzago’s passing, the Pope unexpectedly altered his mind and appointed a new Lieutenant, overturned the Order’s Constitution, and gave Cardinal Tomasi back the authority he had suspended at the start of the year.
The Pope “should weigh with caution the manner his Delegate is pushing things around under the very strong influence of the very same people who were ill advised the Former Grand Master Festing in late 2021 in suspending unjustly the Grand Chancellor of the Order,” according to the Knights.
The Knights continued: “At the time, these people had already lied that the Pope was endorsing that unlawful decision with the assistance of Cardinal Burke.
In January 2022, Pope Francis requested the resignation of Fra’ Mathew Festing as a result of the attempted coup at the time.
Concern has also been expressed about Cardinal Tomasi and his team’s approach, which has been characterized as “dictatorial” by some.
According to this perspective, the Holy Father’s communications, which requested that decisions be made with the Sovereign Council, plainly do not cover the appointment of Grand Priors through the delegate.
The Sovereign Council will apparently gather on July 30 to vote to accept the priories without having been consulted.
Finally, some knights argued that Cardinal Tomasi’s action violates regional national laws.
According to these legislation, a Grand Prior must be elected, therefore the national authorities in each nation may decline to recognize someone who was not chosen in accordance with local bylaws.