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Monica4316
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What exactly is the Order of Malta and is it an approved, solid Catholic organization? thank you
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PaulfromIowa
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LoyalViews
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The Order of Malta has always been approved, always loved, and supported by the church and the Popes…
except for this one.
except for this one.
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midori
Guest
I once took a class with a woman who was a member of the Order of Malta. She was a very sweet person, but I realized very quickly that membership was much more involved than I had expected.
You need:
(a) to be sponsored by two current members
(b) the “passage fee” (initiation fee) is about $4,000, as of a few years ago
(c) annual dues are around $1,200, as of a few years ago
(d) to make pilgrimage to Lourdes at least once, and preferably much more frequently, to assist pilgrims
in addition to age/activity/religious/be a pillar of your community/etc requirements.
It definitely requires a lot of time and financial investment. But yes, it’s been a good, solid Catholic order for about 900 years…
You need:
(a) to be sponsored by two current members
(b) the “passage fee” (initiation fee) is about $4,000, as of a few years ago
(c) annual dues are around $1,200, as of a few years ago
(d) to make pilgrimage to Lourdes at least once, and preferably much more frequently, to assist pilgrims
in addition to age/activity/religious/be a pillar of your community/etc requirements.
It definitely requires a lot of time and financial investment. But yes, it’s been a good, solid Catholic order for about 900 years…
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pianistclare
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OraLabora
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Don_Ruggero
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Actually, Pope Francis has been a wonderful gift from God to the Order of Malta.
As are the solicitude of Cardinal Parolin and Archbishop Becciu.
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
It is far far more than merely a Catholic organisation.
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Rosebud77
Guest
We know them here in Ireland for their support on occasions like Reek Sunday when folk take on far more than their bodies will cope with.
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josh987654321
Guest
Well, I have heard of some very troubling reports about this whole thing. So I guess I’m in the position of the poster below.
(This emoticon but with more concern)I’ll just pray for the Pope and the Church. And then after such troubling reports, Malta then recently passed same sex marriage.
“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world”
God Bless
Thank you for reading
Josh
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josh987654321
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Don_Ruggero
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You make this comment about Malta and same sex marriage…you do realise, I presume, that the French occupation of Malta took place over 200 years ago and that the Knights of Malta were expelled by Napoleon. It was in this aftermath, in exile, that they moved to Rome where they are based today.Well, I have heard of some very troubling reports about this whole thing. So I guess I’m in the position of the poster below.
I’ll just pray for the Pope and the Church. And then after such troubling reports, Malta then recently passed same sex marriage.
The Knights have very friendly relations with the government of Malta and they have been granted a part of a historic building by a long term agreement as a legacy of their historic connection to the island.
Malta today is a Republic, a member of the European Union, and of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Knights have not governed it in over two centuries.
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
The solicitude of the Holy Father has facilitated the election by the Knights of a wonderful head for the Order who is working with the Order as well as with the Holy See to advance reforms and renewal.
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josh987654321
Guest
Okay, thank you, I thought they were still based in Malta.
Are they based in Malta then?
Thank you.
‘reforms’ sends red flags up for me and is exactly the word that concerns me, as the old saying goes “If it isn’t broken don’t fix it” so was it broken under Pope Benedict and St Pope John Paul II?
God Bless
Thank you for reading
Josh
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
No. That seems to be a frequent error of many, however.
Their headquarters – since the second quarter of the 19th century – is in Rome, divided between their palace at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, near Propaganda Fide, and their Villa on the Aventine, right across the piazza from Sant’ Anselmo.
If you are not a member and are not even familiar with its most basic elements, why are you alarmed and even more, why have an attitude such as “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”…since you don’t even know the problems, the potential solutions, and they do not concern you or your life?
In fact, the Order has been undergoing reforms in varying degrees since its relocation to Rome in the 19th century through to its new constitutions completed in 1961 and approved by Pope Saint John XXIII. They have all been for the better, actually.
In fact the present reform and the renewal is quite needed…and has been growing more urgent across the past few decades And they were foreseen for years, growing more urgent in the pontificates of both John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
And it is properly the concern of the head of the Order, the governing bodies, and the membership…as well as the Holy Father, and the Holy See for those matters that pertain to their jurisdiction, such as those members who are, canonically, vowed Religious.
For the last election, there were only 12 eligible candidates available, because of the nobility requirements, to be elected as Grand Master by 56 eligible electors out of more than 13,000 Knights and Dames…and one of the 12, I might add, was 98 years old.
We do not have a surplus of Catholic nobility – whose nobility can be traced back a requisite number of generations – taking on this vocation in the Order of Malta or indeed in general as in centuries past; at the level of governance we are discussing for the Order, the Knight of a suitable family of nobility requires the profession of the vows of a Religious
The Order does tremendous good throughout the world and has diplomatic relations with over 100 nations…but it is in need of updating for realities of the 21st century and the Knight elected, an Italian, is well placed to see it to fruition.
This isn’t the 19th century…and that century is receding more and more as the years pass. It is not coming back.
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Rosebud77
Guest
This is the Order of Malta here in Ireland. I saw the name in connection with the Reek Sunday climb of Croagh Patrick when they turned out in force to help the inevitable casualities.
orderofmaltaireland.org/
I have to admit I had not really heard of them until then. ( Cannot get the full site us I am on low power) May be regional?
orderofmaltaireland.org/
I have to admit I had not really heard of them until then. ( Cannot get the full site us I am on low power) May be regional?
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Don_Ruggero
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This is the Irish Association for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which is international and is based on Rome as I wrote in a post above. They do wonderful work in Ireland…though there are many who work in casualty and ambulance driving and other types of care providing as either employees or volunteers when that number is compared to the smaller numbers who are, in fact, actually Knights and Dames of the Order in Ireland.
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Rosebud77
Guest
Now I am a little confused and also wondering why in all these years I have never heard of them here? Looking on the map on the site that have abundant units?
Also I want to ask please, as they have a new "Knight"apprently the first Irish one, what their “status” is as in connection with eg the priesthood or monastic life? ( It is on the their Irish site that I finally accessed.
We all here know eg Vincent de Paul but not these?
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Brendan_64
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None. The Knights of Malta is a lay Catholic order which is also an independent sovereign state with its own passports, diplomatic relations with other nations etc.
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