'Our future is in danger': 1,000-year-old Order of Malta in turmoil amid crunch talks – Catholic World Report catholicworldreport.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from catholicworldreport.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi. / Martin Micallef/Maltese Association Order of Malta via Flickr.Rome, Italy, Jan 26, 2022 / 12:00 pm (CNA).In a turn of events described as a "direct attack" on the Order of Malta s sovereignty, Pope Francis delegate refused to permit a representative of one of the order s highest-ranking officials to attend a meeting discussing sweeping changes to the 1,000-year-old institution.The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as it is officially known, is both a lay religious order of the Catholic Church and a subject of international law. In 2017, Pope Francis ordered reforms of both the order s religious life and its constitution.That reform was supposed to enter a decisive stage at a Jan. 25-26 meeting in Rome, where the order, which also operates a worldwide relief agency, has its base. But in a Jan. 18 letter, Albrecht von Boeselager, the order s Grand Chancellor, announced that he would not join the working group overseeing the drafting of a new c