https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/28/grand-master-fra-matthew-festing-resigns-office/
Not only has the Grand Master been effectively dismissed, but the former Grand Chancellor has been re-instated in office! This effectively seems like a coup against the former Grand Master and implies that he was the one involved in some form of wrongdoing?
I wonder if we will ever get to the truth of what has been going on here! This seems to be a truly shocking and unprecedented sequence of events!!
--Previous Message--
: Unfortunately the Pope appears to have scant
: regard for legal process. The Order's
: sovereignty has been affirmed very clearly
: in its constitution which nowhere mentions
: Papal authority. The only requirement is
: that he be informed of the election of a new
: grand master and of a grand master's
: resignation. He appoints the Order's prelate
: who must have a nihil obstat to the
: candidates for religious profession, nothing
: more. The Holy See raised no objection when
: the most recent version of the Order’s
: Constitution was promulgated in 1997. This
: does not give the Pope any legal basis for
: intervening in the Order’s affairs, to
: demand the resignation of the Grand Master
: or declare that the Grand Commander’s
: appointment should be temporary until the
: official he would appoint takes over
: control. Neither does the Holy See have the
: legal capacity to nullify any of the acts of
: the Grand Master since 6 December, as it has
: purported to do. The Grand Master’s decision
: to agree to the Pope’s request to resign was
: a personal one and not required by the
: Order’s constitution.
:
: One may draw an analogy with the
: Co-Principality of Andorra, one of whose
: joint heads of state is the Bishop of
: Urgell. Unlike the Grand Master of the Order
: of Malta, the Bishop is appointed by the
: Pope and can be removed from office by him,
: but this gives the Holy See no authority
: whatsoever
: over Andorra, its institutions or
: government. Of all the major Catholic
: institutions, the Order of Malta has the
: greatest claim to be free of Vatican
: control; now every other Catholic
: organisation or charity should be put on
: notice that at any time it may be taken over
: by the Pope. Many of those members of the
: Order who have given generously to its work
: because they saw its sovereignty and
: independence as an advantage in carrying out
: its mission, may now be reconsidering their
: commitment to future support. The Order will
: find it very hard to carry out its mission
: in Orthodox and Moslem countries if it is
: merely an arm of the Vatican. This is
: potentially disastrous for all Catholic
: institutions, colleges, schools,
: universities, charities and religious orders
: which have been considered autonomious
: institutions.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: --Previous Message--
:
:
:
: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/knights-of-malta-grand-master-to-resign-at-request-of-pope-francis-42917/
:
: I posted on possible trouble within the
: Order on the Franco-Iberian Board (1st Jan)
: where such items relating to the Order of
: Malta have been posted before (see below).
:
:
:
: http://members3.boardhost.com/Francoiberian/msg/1483285486.html
:
: All I can say at this stage is...absolutely
: extraordinary! What on earth is going on and
: why has the Pope seen fit to interfere in
: this drastic way with what was, to all
: intents and purposes, an internal
: disciplinary matter for the Sovereign Order?
:
:
:
