Order of Malta - Electing a new Grand Master

The Special Correspondent has forwarded this post from the blog Chivalry and Honour Turcopilier about tomorrow's election of a new Grand Master or Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta. I have copied and pasted it verbatim.

The Arms of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta 

Image: Wikipedia

The Order of Malta - The Council Complete of State and the Election on 29 April

The events of the past five months that ultimately led to the resignation of the Grand Master have led to considerable dissension among members of the Order and concerns at the reported breaches of the Constitution of the Order. These events were unprecedented in the modern history of the Order, indeed the last occasion on which a Grand Master resigned was when Fra Ferdinand von Hompesch, after the islands of Malta and Gozo were surrendered to the French, abdicated as Grand Master on 6 July 1799.

The Grand Master’s resignation was offered to and accepted by the Sovereign Council of the Order on 28 January 2017. Meanwhile the Grand Chancellor, Baron Albrecht von Boeselager, was reinstated in his office. The Grand Commander automatically became Lieutenant ad interim, and duly called for a meeting of the Council Complete of State to elect a new Grand Master or Lieutenant of the Grand Master.

The work of the Order in the service of the Poor and Sick continues however, and this remains the principle focus of its members, while retaining the traditional structures which link it to its former role as both a hospitaller and a military body, dedicated to the Catholic faith. For the Order to succeed in its mission it must be united in loyalty to the next Head of the Order and its sovereignty must be protected.

The Grand Master is elected for life by then from among the Professed Knights with at least ten years in perpetual vows if they are younger than fifty years of age; in the case of Professed Knights who are older, but who have been members of the Order for at least ten years, three years in perpetual vows are sufficient. There are provisions for the resignation of the Grand Master in the Constitution - following such resignation he becomes Bailiff Grand Prior, subject in that capacity only to the authority of the Head of the Order.

The Grand Master and the Lieutenant of the Grand Master must have the nobiliary requisites prescribed for the category of Knights of Honour and Devotion. These requisites differ according to the National Association of which the candidate was admitted. This reduces the number of potential candidates for either office to just four professed knights.

The Council Complete of State elects the Grand Master or the Lieutenant of the Grand Master.

Those who will be entitled to vote are:

a) the Lieutenant ad interim;

b) the members of the Sovereign Council;

c) the Prelate ;

d) the (Grand) Priors or, in the event of vacancy, their permanent substitutes (Procurators, Vicars,

Lieutenants);

e) the Professed Bailiffs ;

f) two Professed Knights delegated by each Priory ;

g) a Professed Knight and a Knight in Obedience delegated by the Knights in gremio religionis;

h) five Regents of the Sub-priories, in accordance with the Code;

i) fifteen representatives of the Associations, in accordance with the Code.

The Grand Master’s election requires a majority plus one of those present entitled to vote.

The members of the First Class taking part in the Council Complete of State have the right to propose three candidates. In the event that such a list is not presented within the first day of the meetings of the Council Complete of State or if a candidate is not elected from among the proposed list within the first three ballots, the members of the Council Complete of State have freedom of choice in successive ballots.

After the fifth undecided ballot, the Council Complete of State decides, with the same majority, whether to proceed to the election of a Lieutenant of the Grand Master for a maximum period of one year. In the event of a negative result the balloting to elect the Grand Master resumes. In the event of a positive result the Lieutenant of the Grand Master is elected by means of a runoff ballot between the two candidates who received the largest number of votes in the fifth ballot. The candidate in the runoff ballot who receives the larger number of votes prevails. Should there be only one candidate, a majority vote of those present is required.

If elected, the Lieutenant of the Grand Master must reconvene the Council Complete of State before the end of his mandate (which cannot be greater than one year from his election). Immediately following the election, the Pope must be informed of the name of the new Head of the Order.

The Grand Master then makes the following solemn oath: “By this most Holy Wood of the Cross and by God’s Holy Gospels, I, N.N., do solemnly promise and swear to observe the Constitution, the Code, the Rule and the laudable customs of our Order and to administer the affairs of the Order conscientiously. So help me God, and if I do otherwise, may it be to the risk of my soul.”

It is anticipated that whoever is elected the new Head of the Order, whether a Grand Master or a Lieutenant, will call an Extraordinary Chapter-General. This will elect the members of the Sovereign Council, composed of the Great Officers of the Order (Grand Commander, Grand Chancellor, Grand Hospitaller and Receiver of the Common Treasure) and the six councillors. It will also elect the members of the Government Council, which consists of six Councillors from different geographic areas elected from members of any of the three Classes of the Order.


The history of the order, it constitution and an account of the recent disputes within it and between it and the Holy See can be found at Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta

The Arms of the previous Prince and Grand Master, Fra' Matthew Festing

 Image:Pinterest

The Decollation of St John the Baptist

Today is the feast of the Decollation or Beheading of St John the Baptist. There is an online history of the feast here. In the later middle ages at least devotion to St John was very considerable,and in addition to statues and paintings there was a sizeable market in alabaster plaques, often showing his severed head on the platter. These were the work of the alabasterers of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in particular. Here is an example in a different style: 

Alabaster head of St. John the Baptist, 1470-90

 Victoria and Albert Museum

Image:Shafe.co.uk 

Such images travelled widely. I am told that one was found on the ship of the Turkish commander at Lepanto in 1571. I assume it must have been captured from an English Knight of Rhodes or of Malta. Sent to Rome to be prsented to the Pope it was shown to St Philip Neri, who insisted on keeping it. It can, I understand, still be seen in his room at the Chiesa Nuova 

Mass at Merton with the Order of Malta

Earlier this afternoon I attended a celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the glorious setting of the chapel of Merton College. The Mass was attended by HMEH the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Fra' Matthew Festing. The Grand Master is visiting Oxford for a couple of days and is due to address the University Catholic group the Newman Society this evening about the function of the Order in the presert day under the title of Charity in the 21st Century. There is a biography of the Grand Master here.

The Mass was a Missa cantata for the feast of the Passionist St Gabriel of the Sorrows of Maryand was celebrated by Fr John Osman from Dorchester, a chaplain of the Order. This was a rather low-key affair - Fra' Matthew and the other Knights present were in ordinary day dress rather than their habits. Given that it was mid-afternoon on a weekday there was a good congregation - many of them young men who have become Companions of the Order and assist in its extensive care work.

When we arrived we were given prayer cards for the cause of the late Grand Master Fra' Andrew Bertie, of whom there is a biography here.

The Grand Master on  previous visit to Merton in 2010

Image;Wikimedia

Thinking about the Sovereign Order it occurred to me that given the variety of options raised in the 1950s and early 60s as to the future of the island of Malta in terms of independence or integration into the UK befoe it became an independent Commonwealth nation in 1965 it might not have been such bad idea to have retuned tit to the Knights. They form a sovereign body - complete with an airforce at one point - , they had ruled the island from the time of the Emperor Charles V and Malta is a notably Catholic place. A missed opportunity?

Knights of Malta

On Wednesday evening I attended a most interesting talk at the Oratory here in Oxford by Julian Chadwick about the history and present role of the Order of Malta, or to give it its proper title The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta.

Mr Chadwick is in Simple Profession as a Knight, and, dressed in his habit and equipped with modern computer technology, symbolised the way in which the Order combines its original monastic and hospitaller charism with modern methods so as to continue to serve Christ and the Church as well as the sick and the poor.

Amongst the points he made was that the Order, founded in 1099, is the oldest chivalric order in existence, predating those of the national and dynastic monarchies, such as the Garter, the Annunziata and the Golden Fleece, founded from the fourteenth century onwards.

In England the Grand Priory was restablished in 1993, having been in abeyance since 1559, although there had been English Knights of Malta throughout that period. The previous Grand Master and the present one were both born in England. The Order is growing in numbers in this country, and this appears to be a consequence of their fidelity to their traditions.

He also indicated the wide extent of their humanitarian work, and fact that the Sovereign status of the Order enables it to work where other groups might not be accepted and to be a means of directing aid rapidly to disaster areas.

A meeting of the Sovereign Council of the Order,
with the banners of the national langues displayed

I have added the English website of the Order of Malta to the side bar, and it provides a great deal of information about the history and current activities of the Order.