Scandal strikes at ancient Order of Malta over ex-chancellor

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Scandal strikes at ancient Order of Malta over ex-chancellor

The Order of Malta, an historic conservative Catholic religious order, will be under investigation due to a recent ‘condom scandal’. Albrecht von Boeselager, the order’s grand chancellor, was was forcibly ousted earlier this month for allegedly allowing the distribution of contraceptives in Africa.

ROME - Pope Francis on Thursday named a high-powered commission to investigate a reported condom scandal at the Order of Malta, the conservative Catholic religious order that dates from the medieval Crusades.
The order’s grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, was forcibly ousted earlier this month after the Order of Malta said “an extremely grave and untenable situation” came to light.

Italian daily Il Messaggero said the scandal concerned von Boeselager’s tenure as health minister and claims that he didn’t prevent the order’s workers in Africa from distributing condoms.

…

Burke has frequently lashed out at the prevalence of birth control use among Catholics. He was present at the meeting in which von Boeselager was ordered to resign but refused, prompting a disciplinary procedure that ended with him being forcibly removed, the order statement said.

bit.ly/2ifQtpZ
 
Press release concerning the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis, in his sollicitude for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta – a lay religious Order (cfr. Constitutional Charter, art. 1, para. 1) that has, among its ends, that of “service to the faith and to the Holy Father” (ibid., art. 2, para. 1) – has ordered the establishment of a group of five authoritative members with the mandate of gathering evidence in order to inform the Holy See completely and in a short time about the event that has recently concerned the Grand Chancellor of the Order, Albrect Freiherr von Boeselager. This group is composed of Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, CS; Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ; Avv. Jacques de Liedekerke; Mr Marc Odendall; Mr Marwan Sehnaoui.

en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/12/22/press_release_concerning_the_order_of_malta/1281060
 
washingtonpost.com/national/religion/scandal-strikes-at-ancient-order-of-malta-over-ex-chancellor/2016/12/22/0a5ed142-c84b-11e6-acda-59924caa2450_story.html?utm_term=.a846b4edf3ca
Pope Francis launched an investigation Thursday into the ouster of a top official at the Order of Malta, the ancient aristocratic religious order, amid evidence that Francis’ own envoy to the group engineered the removal without his blessing over a years-old condom scandal.
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In a statement, von Boeselager said he had been asked to resign during a Dec. 6 meeting attended by Francis’ ambassador to the order, the conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke. During the meeting, the order’s grand master indicated that the request to resign “was in accordance with the wishes of the Holy See.”
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However, no such request was ever made. Von Boeselager said since his ouster, the Holy See has written to the order “confirming that such a wish was never raised.”
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Burke warned that if von Boeselager wasn’t removed, the Vatican would take over the order’s properties, they said.
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Looks like Burke overstepped his bounds.
 
Whateves. They are other organizations affiliated with the Church with bad eggs but nothing was done about them anyway. 🤷
 
mrdrifter said:
Thank you for this link. The comments section for the article express a range of simple to virulent hatred of Cardinal Burke. What do you suppose accounts for this?
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I think it is because he is perceived by many to stand in opposition to the Pope.
 
mrdrifter said:
Thank you for this link. The comments section for the article express a range of simple to virulent hatred of Cardinal Burke. What do you suppose accounts for this?
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I did not read the comments (still have not and never do on articles).

I imagine it is the same sentiment that fuels violent protests against law enforment officers and blaming everyone under the sun for an election loss except the candidate and their message.

A lack of maturity combined with an inability to form a logical argument and put together a grammatical correct paragraph contribute.

That wasn’t the point though. The real scandal here is Burke acting under the color of authority. It will be interesting to see how Pope Francis deals with this. Francis may lean a little to the left, but that doesn’t mean he is a softy on internal discipline. How will he handle a rouge agent in his ranks? He can’t continue to allow Burke give directives under the name of Vatican approval that he doesn’t have.
 
robertmidwest said:
The real scandal here is Burke acting under the color of authority.
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Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Burke Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a position that presumably carries with it some modicum of authority to represent the Holy See. Why should we think Cardinal Burke exceeded his authority in this matter?

But back to the real point: What do you suppose accounts for some people’s manifest hatred for Cardinal Burke? (I guess he is indeed a “rouge agent” with the red hat and all.)
 
Vatican City, Dec 24, 2016 / 10:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Two days after the announcement that Pope Francis has established a group to look into the circumstances regarding the recent dismissal of the Order of Malta’s former Grand Chancellor, the Knights responded – saying the decision was an internal matter.

The response follows the forced resignation of leader Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, which some attribute to controversy regarding the order’s charity branch being allegedly involved in distributing condoms in Myanmar to prevent HIV.

On Dec. 22 the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had formed a group of five “senior officials” tasked with “gathering any liable factors” and to “fully and quickly inform the Holy See on the matter that has recently affected the Grand Chancellor of the Order, Mr. Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager.”

Members of the group include Archbishop Silvestro Tomasi, Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J., Belgian lawyer Mr. Jacques de Liedekerke, Mr. Marc Odendall and Mr. Marwan Sehnaoui.

In response to the formation of the group, the Knights of Malta issued a Dec. 24 statement saying the replacement of a Grand Chancellor is “an act of internal governmental administration” that falls solely in the Order’s competence.

“The aforementioned appointment is the result of a misunderstanding by the Secretariat of State of the Holy See,” the statement continued.

It noted that the Order’s Grand Master, Matthew Festing, wrote a letter to Pope Francis yesterday explaining why the Holy See’s suggestions were therefore “unacceptable,” while at the same time assuring the Pope of his “filial devotion.”

According to a previous, Dec. 13 statement from the Order, Albrecht von Boeselager and his position as Grand Chancellor was the subject of an “extremely grave and untenable situation” Dec. 6, just a few days earlier.

Festing then called Boeselager to take part in a meeting with the Order’s Grand Commander, Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein, and Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Order’s papal representative, in order to ask for his resignation.

After twice refusing to submit his resignation, Boeselager was, “with the backing of the Grand Master and the Sovereign Council and most members of the Order around the world,” forced to resign as part of a “disciplinary procedure” which can result in the suspension of a person’s membership in the Order.

The reason for Boeselager’s removal, the statement read, “was due to severe problems which occurred during Boeselager’s tenure as Grand Hospitaller of the Order of Malta, and his subsequent concealment of these problems from the Grand Magistry, as proved in a report commissioned by the Grand Master last year.”

A day later, Dec. 14, the appointment of John Edward Critien as the Grand Chancellor ad interim was announced by the order.

While the real reasons for Boeselager’s removal are still unknown, many have speculated that it is due at least in part to a program the order’s charity branch took part in several years ago offering aid to sex slaves in Myanmar.

Part of the aid included giving condoms to the women in order to protect against HIV. However, Boeselager argued at the time that the condoms were distributed by other aid programs, and not his own.

The Vatican was informed about the incident and the order’s involvement in the program ceased. An ethics committee was then launched in order to ensure that similar mistakes weren’t made in future projects.

Pope Francis’ establishment of the group, then, seems to be aimed at gathering an accurate reading of the facts. Whether or not he will respond to Festing’s letter is yet to be seen.

Full article…
 
I would assume that any Catholic chivalric order exists under some kind of papal decree, and thus should not lie beyond the scope of a papal inquiry.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
I would assume that any Catholic chivalric order exists under some kind of papal decree, and thus should not lie beyond the scope of a papal inquiry.
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They are the Hospitallers. They take an oath that swears obedience to their superiors and the Pope.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
I would assume that any Catholic chivalric order exists under some kind of papal decree, and thus should not lie beyond the scope of a papal inquiry.
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They are also a sovereign entity under international law. The Grand Master answers to no president, king or prince on earth. He is sovereign. He is a chief of state. He is subject to the Pope under Church law, but this seems to me an internal matter. Pope Francis talks a lot about Synodality and learning from the Orthodox, but in practice he seems to very frequently flex the muscles of primacy. I’m not criticizing the Holy Father - I just don’t get the apparent contradiction.
 
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