This article is about the modern Catholic military order. For its medieval predecessor, seeKnights Hospitaller. For the period of Malta under its rule, seeHospitaller Malta.For the unrelated Republic of Malta, seeMalta."Knight of Malta" redirects here. For other uses, seeKnight of Malta (disambiguation).
Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta
Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta(Italian) Supremus Militaris Ordo Hospitalarius Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani, Rhodiensis et Melitensis(Latin)
TheSovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially theSovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta,[a] and commonly known as theOrder of Malta or theKnights of Malta, is aCatholic layreligious order, traditionally of amilitary,chivalric, andnoble nature.[4] Though it possesses no territory, the order is considered a sovereign entity under international law.
The government of the Sovereign Order of Malta has a similar structure to national state governments. However, it also includes specific features associated with its nature as a lay religious order, as well as particular terminology evolved from nine centuries of history.
The Order's membership includes about 13,500 Knights, Dames and Chaplains.[7] Thirty-three of these are professedreligiousKnights of Justice.[2] Until the 1990s, the highest classes of membership, including officers, required proof of noble lineage. More recently, a path was created for Knights and Dames of the lowest class (of whom proof of aristocratic lineage is not required) to be specially elevated to the highest class, making them eligible for office in the order.
The Order's modern-day role is largely focused on providing humanitarian assistance and assisting with international humanitarian relations, for which purpose it has hadpermanent observer status at theUnited Nations General Assembly since 1994.[8] The Order employs about 52,000 doctors, nurses, auxiliaries andparamedics assisted by 100,000 volunteers in more than 120 countries, assisting children, homeless, disabled, elderly, andterminally ill people, refugees, andpeople with leprosy around the world without distinction of ethnicity or religion.[b] Through its worldwide relief corps,Malteser International, the order aids victims ofnatural disasters,epidemics and war.[9]
The Order maintains diplomatic relations with 115 states,[10] enters into treaties, and issuesits own passports, coins and postage stamps. Its two headquarters buildings in Rome enjoyextraterritoriality,[11] and it maintains embassies in other countries. The three principal officers are counted as citizens.[3] The Order has been aUnited Nations General Assembly observer since 1994,[10][12] granted in view of its "long-standing dedication [...] in providing humanitarian assistance and its special role in international humanitarian relations";[8] the same category is held by other non-state entities such as theInternational Olympic Committee andInternational Committee of the Red Cross.[13]
The Order of Malta comprises a large number ofPriories, Sub-priories, and National Associations around the world, but there also exist various organizations with similar-sounding names that are unrelated to the Order. These include a number ofmimic orders,[14] such asmasonic and non-Catholic organizations.[15]
The Order has twoflags:[1]: Constitution Article 8 the State Flag is rectangular with a red background, upon which there is a whiteLatin cross.[16] The Flag of the Order's works is rectangular with a red background upon which there is a white eight-pointedMaltese cross.[16]
The Grand Master displays a rectangular flag with a red background, upon which there is a white eight-pointed Maltese cross, encircled by theCollar of the Order and surmounted by a crown.[16]
Thecoat of arms of the Order, gules a cross argent (a white/silver cross on a red field), is most often depicted on an oval shield surrounded by a rosary, all superimposed on a white eight-pointedcross over a princely mantle surmounted by acrown.[1]: Constitution Article 8 § 2
Inecclesiastical heraldry of theCatholic Church, the Order of Malta is one of only two orders (along with theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre) whoseinsignia may be displayed in a clerical coat of arms (laypersons having no such restriction). The shield is surrounded with a silverrosary for Professed Knights, or for others the ribbon of their rank. Some members may also display the Maltese cross behind theirshield instead of theribbon.[17]
To protect its heritage against fraud, the Order has legally registered sixteen versions of its names and emblems in some one hundred countries.[18]
Blessed Gerard, founder of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Copper engraving byLaurent Cars, about 1725.Portrait of an unknown Knight of Malta, byTitian, c. 1508,Uffizi
The birth of theKnights Hospitaller dates back to around 1048. Merchants from the ancientMarine Republic of Amalfi obtained from the Caliph of Egypt the authorisation to build a church, convent, and hospital in Jerusalem, to care for pilgrims of any religious faith or race. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem – the monastic community that ran the hospital for the pilgrims in the Holy Land – became independent under the guidance of its founder, the religious brotherGerard.
With thePapal bullPie postulatio voluntatis dated 15 February 1113,Pope Paschal II approved the foundation of the Hospital and placed it under the aegis of the Holy See, granting it the right to freely elect its superiors without interference from other secular or religious authorities. By virtue of the Papal bull, the hospital became an order exempt from the control of the local church. All the Knights were religious, bound by the three monastic vows ofpoverty, chastity and obedience.
The constitution of the ChristianKingdom of Jerusalem during theCrusades obliged the order to take on the military defence of the sick, the pilgrims, and the captured territories. The order thus added the task of defending the faith to that of its hospitaller mission.
As time went on, the order adopted the white, eight-pointed Cross that is still its symbol today. The eight points represent the eight beatitudes that Jesus pronounced in hisSermon on the Mount.
The Order was governed by its Grand Master, the Prince of Rhodes, and its Council. From its beginning, independence from other nations granted by pontifical charter and the universally recognized right to maintain and deploy armed forces constituted grounds for the international sovereignty of the Order, which minted its own coins and maintained diplomatic relations with other states. The senior positions of the Order were given to representatives of differentLangues.
In 1523, after six months of siege and fierce combat against the fleet and army of SultanSuleiman the Magnificent, the walls collapsed from undermining explosives, and by a negotiated surrender the Knights left Rhodes carrying their arms.
In 1565, the Knights, led by Grand Master Fra'Jean de Valette (after whom the capital of Malta,Valletta, was named), defended the island for more than three months during theGreat Siege by theOttomans.
TheReformation, which split Western Europe intoProtestant andCatholic states, affected the knights as well. In several countries, including England, Scotland, and Sweden, the order dissolved. In others, including theNetherlands and Germany, entire bailiwicks or commanderies (administrative divisions of the order) experienced Protestant conversions; these "Johanniter orders" survive in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden and many other countries, including the United States and South Africa. It was established that the order should remain neutral in any war between Christian nations.[citation needed]
Emperor Paul ofRussia wearing the Crown of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta (1799)
In 1798,Napoleon led theFrench occupation of Malta. Napoleon demanded from Grand MasterFerdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim that his ships be allowed to enter the port and to take on water and supplies. The Grand Master replied that only two foreign ships could be allowed to enter the port at a time. Bonaparte, aware that such a procedure would take a long time and leave his forces vulnerable to British AdmiralHoratio Nelson, immediately ordered a cannon fusillade against Malta.[20] The French soldiers disembarked in Malta at seven points on the morning of 11 June and attacked. After several hours of fierce fighting, the Maltese in the west were forced to surrender.[21]
Napoleon opened negotiations with the fortress capital of Valletta. Faced with vastly superior French forces and the loss of western Malta, the Grand Master negotiated a surrender to the invasion.[22] Hompesch left Malta for Trieste on 18 June.[23] He resigned as Grand Master on 6 July 1799.
The knights were dispersed, though the Order continued to exist in a diminished form and negotiated with European governments for a return to power as part of the agreement between France and Holy Roman Empire during theGerman mediatisation. The Russian Emperor,Paul I, gave the largest number of knights shelter inSaint Petersburg, an action that gave rise to theRussian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and the Order's recognition among the Russian Imperial Orders.[24] The refugee knights in Saint Petersburg proceeded to elect Tsar Paul as their Grand Master – a rival to Grand Master von Hompesch until the latter's abdication left Paul as the sole Grand Master. Grand Master Paul I created, in addition to the Catholic Grand Priory, a "Russian Grand Priory" of no fewer than 118 Commanderies, dwarfing the rest of the Order and open to all Christians. Paul's election as Grand Master was, however, never ratified under Catholic canon law, and he was thede facto rather thande jure Grand Master of the Order.
By the early 19th century, the Order was severely weakened by the loss of its priories throughout Europe. Only 10% of the order's income came from traditional sources in Europe, with the remaining 90% being generated by the Russian Grand Priory until 1810. This was partly reflected in the government of the Order being under Lieutenants, rather than Grand Masters, in the period 1805 to 1879, whenPope Leo XIII restored a Grand Master to the order. This signaled the renewal of the Order's fortunes as a humanitarian and religious organization.
The French forces occupying Malta expelled the Knights Hospitaller from the country.[25]
During the seventeen years that separated the seizure of Malta and the General Peace, "the formality of electing a brother Chief to discharge the office of Grand Master, and thus to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute, was duty attended to".[26][27] The office of Lieutenant of the Magistery andad interim of Grand Master was held by the Grand Baillies CountNikolay Saltykov,Giovanni Battista Tommasi,Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo,Andrea Di Giovanni y Centellés,Carlo Candida and CountFilippo di Colloredo-Mels.[27] Their mandates complexively covered the period until the death of the Emperor Paul in 1801.[27]
TheTreaty of Amiens (1802) obliged theUnited Kingdom to evacuate Malta, which was to be restored to a recreated Order of St. John, whose sovereignty was to be guaranteed by all of the major European powers, to be determined at the final peace. However, this did not happen because of objections to the treaty that quickly grew in the United Kingdom.
Bonaparte's rejection of a British offer involving a ten-year lease of Malta prompted the reactivation of the British blockade of the French coast; Britain declared war on France on 18 May.[28]
The 1802 treaty was never implemented. The United Kingdom resumed hostilities citing France's imperialist policies in theWest Indies, Italy, and Switzerland.[29]
TheCongress of Vienna of 1815 confirmed the loss of Malta. After having temporarily resided in Messina, Catania andFerrara, the seat of the order was moved to Ferrara in 1826 and to Rome in 1834. TheMagistral Palace in Via Condotti 68 and theMagistral Villa on theAventine Hill enjoyextraterritorial status. The grand priories of Lombardy-Venetia and of Sicily were restored from 1839 to 1841. The office of Grand Master was restored by Pope Leo XIII in 1879, after a vacancy of 75 years, confirmingGiovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce as the first Grand Master of the restored Order of Malta. However, the loss of possession of Malta during this period did not affect the right of active and passivelegation for the Order, which is legally important for the absolute continuity of international status, regardless of the former territorial possession.[30][31]
The original hospitaller mission became the main activity of the order, growing ever stronger during the 20th century, most especially because of the contribution of the activities carried out by the Grand Priories and National Associations in many countries around the world. Large-scale hospitaller and charitable activities were carried out during World Wars I and II under Grand Master Fra'Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere (1931–1951). Under the Grand Masters Fra'Angelo de Mojana di Cologna (1962–1988) and Fra'Andrew Bertie (1988–2008), the projects expanded.
The Order experienced a leadership crisis beginning in December 2016, whenAlbrecht Freiherr von Boeselager protested his removal as Grand Chancellor by Grand Master Fra'Matthew Festing. Festing had removed Von Boeselager after other aid groups were found to have distributedcondoms as part of a joint charitable project with the order’s Malteser International to help sex slaves inMyanmar protect themselves from AIDS.[34] In January 2017,Pope Francis ordered von Boeselager reinstated and required Festing's resignation.[35][36][37][38][39] Francis also named Archbishop (later Cardinal)Giovanni Becciu[40] as his personal representative to the Order – sidelining the Order's Cardinal PatronRaymond Burke – until the election of a new Grand Master.[41][42][43] The pope effectively taking control over the Order was seen by some as a break with tradition and the Order's independence.[44]
In May 2017, the Order named Mauro Bertero Gutiérrez, a Bolivian member of the Government Council, to lead its constitutional reform process.[45][46][47] In June 2017, in a departure from tradition, the leadership of the Order wore asuit rather thanfull dress uniforms to their annual papal audience.[48] In May 2018 when a new Grand Master was elected, Francis extended Becciu's mandate indefinitely.[49][50] When the Order'sChapter General met in May 2019 three of the 62 participants were women for the first time.[51]
On 1 November 2020, Pope Francis named Archbishop (later Cardinal)Silvano Tomasi to replace Becciu as his Special Delegate to the Order, reiterating the responsibilities of that office as his sole representative.[52]
On 3 September 2022, Pope Francispromulgated the new constitution of the Order and made provisional appointments to the Sovereign Council; he scheduled a convocation of the Extraordinary General Chapter for 25 January 2023, when regular appointments can be made in place of his provisional ones.[53][54] On 26 January, the General Chapter elected to six-year terms on the Sovereign Council the same four members Francis had appointed the previous September[55] and six of the nine Councillors he had named.[56]
On 19 June 2023, Pope Francis named CardinalGianfranco Ghirlanda to succeed Burke as patron.[57]
The proceedings of the Order are governed by its Constitutional Charter and Code.[1]
ThePrince and Grand Master is the head of the order and governs both as sovereign and as religious superior. He is "entitled to sovereign prerogatives and honors as well as the title of "Most Eminent Highness".[1]: Constitution Article 12 He is elected to a term of ten years and may be elected to a second term, but may not serve beyond the completion of his 85th year.[1]: Constitution Article 13, §2 The Prince and Grand Master is Fra'John T. Dunlap who was elected on 3 May 2023.[58] "In the event of permanent impediment, resignation or death of the Grand Master, the Order is governed by a Lieutenantad interim in the person of the Grand Commander, who can only perform acts of ordinary administration without making any innovations."[1]: Constitution Article 18 If it is not possible to elect a Grand Master, a Lieutenant of the Grand Master is elected, who has the same powers as the Grand Master with the exception of the prerogatives of honour pertaining to a sovereign. Both the Lieutenantad interim and the Lieutenant of the Grand Master are styledEccellenza (Excellency).
TheSovereign Council is the primary governing body of the Order that handles regular business. The members are the Grand Master (or Lieutenant), the holders of the four High Officers (the Grand Commander,[59] the Grand Chancellor,[60] the Grand Hospitaller[61] and the Receiver of the Common Treasure),[62] the five Councilors of the Council of the Professed Knights, and four Councilors.[1]: Constitution Article 25
TheCouncil of the Professed Knights "assists the Grand Master in the spiritual care of the Order and in the governance of the First and Second Class".[1]: Constitution Article 26 It includes the Grand Master (or Lieutenant), the Grand Commander, and five Councilors elected by the Chapter of the Professed.
TheChapter General is the legislative body of the Order, which meets every six years. It elects the members of the Sovereign Council.
TheCouncil Complete of State elects the Grand Master or the Lieutenant of the Grand Master.
TheBoard of Auditors audits the Order's finances. It includes a President elected among the seven Councillors, all elected by the Chapter General.
TheGovernment Council is the advisory board to the Sovereign Council in charge of studying political, religious, humanitarian assistance and international issues.
The Order's judicial powers are exercised by a group of Magistral Courts, whose judges are appointed by the Grand Master and the Sovereign Council.
The order is divided regionally into six Grand Priories, six Sub-Priories and 48 associations.[63]
The six Grand Priories are:
Grand Priory of Rome (founded 1214; expropriated 1808; restored 1816)[64]
Grand Priory of Lombardy and Venice (founded as two priories about 1180; expropriated 1796–1806; restored as a single priory 1839)[64]
Grand Priory of Naples and Sicily (founded as the Priory of Messina, the Priory of Barletta, and the Priory of Capua in the 12th and 13th centuries; suppressed 1806–1826; restored as a single priory 1839)[64]
There are currently (2023) 12,395 members of the Third Class.[2]: p. 38
Within each class and category of knights there are ranks of Knight, Knight Grand Cross, and Bailiff Knight Grand Cross.
Bishops and priests are generally admitted as chaplains of the Order of Malta. There are some priests who are knights of the order, usually because they were admitted to the order prior to ordination. The priests of the Order of Malta are ranked as Honorary Canons, as in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre; and they are entitled to wear the black mozetta with purple piping and purple fascia.[citation needed]
Prior to the 1990s, all officers of the order had to be of noble birth (defined differently in different countries), as they were all Knights of Justice or Knights in Obedience. However, Knights of Magistral Grace (i.e. those who do not have proof of noble birth) now may make the Promise of Obedience and, at the discretion of the Grand Master and Sovereign Council, may enter thenovitiate to become professed Knights of Justice.[citation needed]
TheCardinalis Patronus (Cardinal Patron), who is either acardinal when appointed by the pope or soon raised to that rank,[68] promotes the spiritual interests of the order and its members, and its relations with the Holy See.[1]: Constitution Article 5 § 5
Since 2017, Pope Francis has appointed special delegates to fulfill the role that was previously assigned to the patron.
On 2 February 2017 Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu as his special delegate to the order.[77][78]
After Becciu resigned from the rights and privileges of a cardinal after being implicated in a financial corruption scandal, in October 2020,[79] Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Silvano Tomasi as his special delegate to the order on 1 November 2020.[80][81]
The Prelate of the order is responsible for the clergy of the order and assists the Grand Master, the Grand Commander and the Coordinator of the Second Class in the care of the spiritual life and in the religious observance of all members of the order.[1]: Constitution Articolo 22 [82] He is appointed by the pope on the advice of the cardinal patron.
On 4 July 2015 Pope Francis named BishopJean Laffitte prelate.[83] Laffitte succeeded ArchbishopAngelo Acerbi, who had held the office since 2001. Since 21 December 2023 the prelate has been Msgr. Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos, a native of Spain who has spent the most of his life in Rome as a consultant and professor of church history as the Pontifical Urban University and the Pontifical Gregorian University.[84]
Relationship with other mutually-recognised Orders of Saint John
There are threeenclosed monasteries of nuns of the Order, two in Spain that date from the 11/12th centuries and one in Malta.[86] The existence of the nuns is not mentioned in the Constitutional Charter or the Code of the Order.
Vehicle registration plate of the Order, as seen in Rome, ItalyFlags of Knights Hospitaller inSaint Peter's Castle,Bodrum, Turkey. Left to right:Fabrizio Carretto (1513–1514); Amaury d'Amboise (1503–1512); Pierre d'Aubusson (1476–1503); Jacques de Milly (1454–1461).
The Order "as a subject of international law, exercises sovereign functions with regard to [its] purposes",[87] namely "promoting the glory of God and the sanctification of its members" and performing works of mercy "towards the sick, the needy, and people without a country without distinction of religion, race, sex, origin and age".[88]
The Order has formal diplomatic relations with 114 states (including theHoly See) and has official relations with another five states andwith the European Union.[10] The Order maintainsdiplomatic missions around the world and many of the states reciprocate byaccrediting ambassadors to the Order (usually their ambassador to the Holy See). During the reign of Fra' Andrew Bertie as Prince and Grand Master (1988–2008), the number of nations extending diplomatic relations to the Order more than doubled from 49 to 100.[89]
The Order has relations with the European Union, theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, and a number of international organizations. While theInternational Telecommunication Union has granted radio identification prefixes to the United Nations and thePalestinian Authority, the Order has never received one. For awards purposes, amateur radio operators consider the Order a separate "entity"—but stations transmitting from there use an unofficialcallsign, starting with the prefix "1A".[93] The Order has neither sought nor been granted atop-level domain for the Internet or aninternational dialing code for telephone purposes.
The Order's international nature is useful in enabling it to pursue its humanitarian activities without being seen as an operative of any particular nation. Its sovereignty is also expressed in the issuance ofpassports, licence plates,[94]stamps,[95] andcoins.[96]
With its unique history and unusual present circumstances, the exact status of the Order in international law has been the subject of debate. Some scholars have questioned the Order's sovereignty based on the fact that the Order has very limited geographical territories and on account of the Order's relationship with the Holy See. The connection between the Holy See and the Order of Malta was seen as so close as to call into question the actual sovereignty of the order as a separate entity.[31] This has prompted constitutional changes on the part of the Order, which were implemented in 1997. Since then, the Order has been widely recognized as a sovereign subject of international law in its own right.[97]
Some legal experts claim that the Order's claim to sovereignty cannot be maintained. Even taking into account the Order's ambassadorial diplomatic status among many nations, some scholars reject the Order's sovereign status.[98] Wilhelm Wengler rejects the notion that recognition of the Order by some states (for example, the Republic of San Marino's 1935 recognition of SMOM as a sovereign state in its own right)[99][100][101] makes it a subject of international law.[102] Ian Brownlie writes that, "Even in the sphere of recognition and bilateral relations, the legal capacities of institutions like the Sovereign Order of Jerusalem and Malta must be limited simply because they lack the territorial and demographic characteristics of states."[103] Helmut Steinberger states that, "With the historical exception of the Holy See, which maintains diplomatic relations with more than 100 States, in contemporary international law only States as distinguished from international organizations or other subjects of international law are accorded sovereignty."[104]
Other legal experts argue in favour of the Order's claim to sovereignty. Georg Dahm affirms that the Order is a "subject of international law without territory".[105] Berthold Waldstein-Wartenberg writes that the sovereignty of the Order and its personality in international law is "generally recognized by international law doctrine".[106] Gerhard von Glahn affirms that "the Order can be classified as a nonstate subject of international law, although of a somewhat peculiar nature."[107] Rebecca Wallace explains that a sovereign entity does not have to be a country, and that the Order is an example of this.[108]
On 24 January 1953, the Tribunal of Cardinals appointed byPope Pius XII stated that, "The quality of the sovereign Order of the institution is functional, that is, aimed at ensuring the achievement of the purposes of the Order itself and its development in the world." The Tribunal of Cardinals further stated that, "The status of sovereign Order...consists in the enjoyment of certain prerogatives inherent to the Order itself as a Subject of international law. These prerogatives, which are proper to sovereignty—in accordance with the principles of international law—and which, following the example of the Holy See, have also been recognized by some States, do not however constitute in the Order that complex of powers and prerogatives, which it belongs to sovereign bodies in the full sense of the word."[109]
On 24 June 1961,Pope John XXIII approved the Constitutional Charter of the Order, which stated that "the Order is a legal entity formally approved by the Holy See. It has the quality of a subject of international law" (Article 1) and that "the intimate connection existing between the two qualities of a religious order and a sovereign order do not oppose the autonomy of the order in the exercise of its sovereignty and prerogatives inherent to it as a subject of international law in relation to States." (Article 3)[30]
The Order has signed treaties with Italy dated 20 February 1884, 23 December 1915, 4 January 1938, and 1956.[110]
TheSupreme Court of Cassation decreed on 6 June 1974 that, "the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Malta constitutes a sovereign international subject, in all terms equal, even if without territory, to a foreign state with which Italy has normal diplomatic relations, so there is no doubt, as already this Supreme Court has warned, that it has the legal treatment of foreign states".[111]
The two most important properties of the Order in Rome – the Palazzo Malta in Via dei Condotti 68, where the Grand Master resides and Government Bodies meet, and the Villa del Priorato di Malta on the Aventine Hill, which hosts the Grand Priory of Rome – as well as the Embassy of the Order to Holy See and the Embassy of the Order to Italy are all recognised as extraterritorial by Italy.[112] As Italy recognizes, in addition to extraterritoriality, the exercise by SMOM of all the prerogatives of sovereignty in its headquarters, Italian sovereignty and SMOM sovereignty uniquely coexist without overlapping.[30]
By a decree of KingVictor Emmanuel III of Italy of 28 November 1929, "The Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta enjoys in Italy the honors due to the Cardinals, and takes place after them." Further, "The representation of the Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta . . . immediately follows the representations of the Foreign Diplomatic Corps." Finally, the decree affirms that the Bailiffs Knights Grand Cross of Justice in Italy shall be styled "Excellency" (Italian:Eccellenza).[113]
The Order is one of the largest landowners in Italy; its properties are exempted from certain Italian fiscal jurisdiction.[110]
Diplomatic vehicles of the Order in Italy receive diplomatic license plates with the code "XA". Other vehicles of the Order receive Italian license plates with the prefix SMOM.
Two bilateral treaties have been concluded between the Order and theRepublic of Malta. The first treaty, dated 21 June 1991, is now no longer in force.[114] The second treaty was signed on 5 December 1998 and ratified on 1 November 2001.[115]
This agreement grants the Order the use with limited extraterritoriality of the upper portion ofFort St. Angelo in the city ofBirgu. Its stated purpose is "to give the Order the opportunity to be better enabled to carry out its humanitarian activities as Knights Hospitallers from Saint Angelo, as well as to better define the legal status of Saint Angelo subject to the sovereignty of Malta over it".[116]
The agreement has a duration of 99 years, but the document allows the Government of Malta to terminate it at any time after 50 years.[117] Under the terms of the agreement, the flag of Malta is to be flown together with the flag of the Order in a prominent position over Fort St. Angelo. No asylum may be granted by the Order and generally the Maltese courts have full jurisdiction and Maltese law shall apply. The second bilateral treaty mentions a number of immunities and privileges, none of which appeared in the earlier treaty.[114][115]
The Order's coins are appreciated more as collector's items than for use as currency.
Some 58 countries recognize the Order's postage stamps forfranking purposes, including several such as Canada andMongolia that lack full diplomatic relations with the Order.[118] In 2005,Poste italiane, the Italian postal service, agreed with the Order to deliver internationally most classes of mail other than registered, insured, and special-delivery mail. The Order began issuingeuro-denominated postage stamps in 2005, although thescudo remains the official currency of the Order.
The Order states that it was the hospitaller role that enabled the Order to survive the end of the crusading era; nonetheless, it retains its military title and traditions.
On 26 March 1876, the Association of the Italian Knights of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (Associazione dei cavalieri italiani del sovrano militare ordine di Malta, ACISMOM) reformed the Order's military to a modern military unit of the era. This unit provided medical support to the Italian Army and on 9 April 1909 the military corps officially became a special auxiliary volunteer corps of the Italian Army under the nameCorpo Militare dell'Esercito dell'ACISMOM (Army Military Corps of the ACISMOM), wearing Italian uniforms.[119] Since then the Military Corps have operated with the Italian Army both in wartime and peacetime in medical or paramedical military functions, and in ceremonial functions for the Order, such as standing guard around the coffins of high officers of the Order before and during funeral rites.[120]
I believe that it is a unique case in the world that a unit of the army of one country is supervised by a body of another sovereign country. Just think that whenever our staff (medical officers mainly) is engaged in a military mission abroad, there is the flag of the Order flying below the Italian flag.
— Fausto Solaro del Borgo, President of the Italian Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, stated in a speech given in London in November 2007.[119]
In 1947, after the post-World War II peace treaty forbade Italy to own or operate bomber aircraft and only operate a limited number of transport aircraft, the Italian Air Force opted to transfer some of itsSavoia-Marchetti SM.82 aircraft to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, pending the definition of their exact status (the SM.82s were properly long range transport aircraft that could be adapted for bombing missions). These aircraft were operated by Italian Air Force personnel temporarily flying for the Order, carried the Order's roundels on the fuselage and Italian ones on the wings, and were used mainly for standard Italian Air Force training and transport missions but also for some humanitarian tasks proper of the Order of Malta (like the transport of sick pilgrims to the Lourdes sanctuary). In the early 1950s, when the strictures of the peace treaty had been much relaxed by the Allied authorities, the aircraft returned under full control of the Italian Air Force. One of the aircraft transferred to the Order of Malta, still with the Order's fuselage roundels, is preserved in theItalian Air Force Museum.[121]
The Military Corps has become known in mainland Europe for its operation ofhospital trains,[122] a service carried out intensively during both World Wars. The Military Corps still operates a modern 28-car hospital train with 192 hospital beds, serviced by a medical staff of 38 medics and paramedics provided by the Order and a technical staff provided by the Italian Army'sFerrovieri Engineer Regiment.[123]
^Italian:Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta;Latin:Supremus Militaris Ordo Hospitalarius Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani, Rhodiensis et Melitensis
^The order's website says "its programmes include medical and social assistance, disaster relief in the case of armed conflicts and natural catastrophes, emergency services and first aid corps, help for the elderly, the handicapped and children in need and the provision of first aid training, and support for refugees and internally displaced persons regardless of race, origin or religion."
^abSack, John (1959).Report from Practically Nowhere. Harper. p. 140.as part of the bargain only three men – the grand master, the lieutenant grand master, and the chancellor – could be citizens there. The other S.M.O.M.ians were to be citizens of the country they lived in."
^Sovereign Military Order of Malta."Mission".Orderofmalta.int. Archived fromthe original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved12 April 2016.
^Sainty, Guy Stair, ed.World Orders of Knighthood and Merit,Burke's, August 2006.
^Pocock, Tom (2005).The Terror Before Trafalgar: Nelson, Napoleon, And The Secret War. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-1-59114-681-0. OCLC 56419314.p. 78
^Illustrated History of Europe: A Unique Guide to Europe's Common Heritage (1992) p. 282
^Allen J., John L. (13 May 2011)."A triptych on Benedict's papacy, and hints of what lies beyond".National Catholic Reporter.Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved8 February 2017. Becciu was Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, a position akin to that of a papal chief of staff.
^Sovereign Military Order of Malta."National Institutions".orderofmalta.int.Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved2 September 2016.
^abcdefSire, H.J.A. (2016).The Knights of Malta: A Modern Resurrection. London: Third Millennium. p. 286.
^"On account of some arguments presented in the 1950s, to the effect that the ties with the Holy See in a constitutional and international law context were so close and frequent that the true sovereignty of the Order could be called in question, constitutional changes were made by the Order. These were established in 1997. While the previous constitution laid down that the Order of Malta was a "legal entity solemnly recognised by the Holy See," this formulation has now been removed from the Order's constitution. The previous constitution prescribed that, after being elected, the head of state of the Order of Malta, that is to say the Grand Master, must be approved by the Pope, the new wording in the constitution only prescribes that after election the Grand Master shall inform the Pope of his election. Changes have been implemented throughout to show that the Order is independent of the Holy See from the constitutional and international law perspective."Theutenberg, Bo J. (2003).The Holy See, the Order of Malta and International Law(PDF). Johnny Hagberg and Skara stiftshistoriska sällskap.ISBN91-974235-6-4. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 21 November 2015.
^Cansacchi, Giorgio (1940).Il diritto di legazione attivo e passivo dell'Ordine de Malta. p. 65.
^Astraudo, A. (1935). "Saint-marin et l'Ordre de Malta".La Revue Diplomatique.7.
^Cox, Noel S. B. (June 2008).The Continuing Question of Sovereignty and the Sovereign Military Order of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta.doi:10.2139/ssrn.1140462.SSRN1140462.
^Wengler, Wilhelm (1964).Völkerrecht. Berlin: Springer.
^Brownlie, Ian (2019).Principles of Public International Law (9th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
^Steinberger, Helmut (2000). "Sovereignty".Encyclopaedia of Public International Law. Amsterdam: North Holland. pp. IV, 512.
^Dahm, Georg (1958–1961).Völkerrecht. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.
^Waldstein-Wartenberg, Berthold (1969).Rechtsgeschichte des Malteserordens. Wien: Verlag Herold. p. 264.
^Von Glahn, Gerhard (1992).Law Among Nations: An Introduction to Public International Law (6th revised ed.). Sweet & Maxwell.
^Paul, Chevalier (pseudonym of a French knight of the SMOM)."An Essay on the Order of St. John (S.M.O.M.)". Archived fromthe original on 2 July 2003. Retrieved8 October 2012.Minuscule as it is, the Order does also possess sovereign territory. This consists of the land in Rome on which stands the Grand Magistracy in the Via Condotti and the Villa Malta.
^Agreement between the Government of Malta and the Government of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (signed 5 December 1998), Article 3(4)–(5), Article 3(2)–(3), Article 7(4)
^Military Aircraft Insignia of the World by John Cochrane and Stuart Elliott, published 1998 by Airlife Publishing Limited of Shrewsbury, England (illustrated).ISBN1-85310-873-1
First Category: Knights and Dames of Honour and Devotion (nobility proof required)
Second Category: Conventual Chaplains ad honorem Third Category: Knights and Dames of Grace and Devotion (nobility proof required) Fourth Category: Magistral Chaplains Fifth Category: Knights and Dames of Magistral Grace
Sixth Category: Donats of Devotion (male and female)
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