I think the Holy See has recognised it went too far and has peddled back a bit with some corrections to its initial statements. The Germans who supported the grand chancellor have argued that the GM himself violated the sovereignty by calling on the authority of the Pope to dismiss the grand chancellor. There are those who say this was how the Pope expressed his desire to Cardinal Burke but then changed his mind. There are some purported issues regarding the Swiss fund, and the alleged refusal of the grand master to allow this to be transferred to a fund under the control of the Holy See. Accusations have also been made (firmly rebutted by the grand chancellor) that his brother's membership of the supervisor committee of the IOR (the "Vatican bank") and the membership of the 4 member oversight committee of the treasurer of this Vatican fund who was also a member of the Papal commission investigating the dismissal, was a conflict of interest. The president of the Vatican fund and a trustee of the same were also members of this 5 member commission and 4 of the members are members of the SMOM. It is also of interest that Baron Ernst von Freyberg, a grand cross of the Order of Malta, was appointed president of the supervisor board of the IOR in February 2013 (for a five year term) but then resigned in July 2014. There is nothing in the order’s constitution which gives the Holy See authority over the order, although the order’s prelate is appointed by the Pope and his nihil obstat is required for candidates making religious profession (he also regulates the conventual chaplains and the spiritual life of the professed and the religious commitment of the members).
One may draw a parallel with the co-principality of Andorra where one co-prince is, ex-officio, the president of France and the other is, ex-officio, the Bishop of Urgell. It is axiomatic that although the bishop is appointed by the Pope, the Holy See cannot in any way intervene in the affairs of the co-principality. The resignation of the bishop or his removal from office by the Holy See has no impact on the sovereignty of Andorra.
Hopefully this will end with the election of a suitably qualified grand master. I suspect, however, that the tenure of the Lieutenancy will be extended for one year so that any changes to the constitution can be considered properly before the Extraordinary Chapter General which would have to approve them.
There is much more to all this than has been reported and quite a lot misunderstood - it also suits the agenda of some to portray this as a dispute between die-hard conservatives challenging the authority of a progressive Pope. This is not the case. Without in any way endorsing its contents, those who read Italian might find these reports of interest (and, I would caution, believing it all - for example, it predicted the appointment of a Cardinal, Coccapalmiero, as delegate, whereas it is Mgr Becciu. http://www.dagospia.com/cerca?s=ordine+di+malta (the oldest stories are at the bottom, the newest at the top)



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: --Previous Message--
: The Grand Chancellor and the Grand
: Hospitaller
: gave a press conference on Thursday,
: February 2. They announced that, "The
: election of the Grand Master’s successor
: will take place within the next three
: months, as provided for in the Constitution
: of the Order of Malta. The Lieutenant ad
: interim, Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann von
: Rumerstein, will convene the Council
: Complete of State, the electing body, which
: is made up of an international
: representation of members of the Order. They
: will meet in the Order’s Magistral Villa in
: Rome."
:
: Given that the Pope has now seized complete
: control of the Order with the evident
: connivance of both these men, the post of
: 'Grand Master' would now seemed to be
: rendered somewhat shambolic as is the
: Order's supposed sovereignty. 900 years of
: history seems to have come to an end. The
: once proud Sovereign Order has effectively
: been reduced to just another Catholic Order
: among many with the Vatican in complete
: control.
:
: