Pope encourages Order of Malta to continue its "humanitarian diplomacy"

By Lisa Zengarini

“Your work is not simply humanitarian, like the meritorious service provided by so many other institutions.  It is a religious act that gives glory to God by serving the weakest among us and it testifies to the Lord’s preferential love for them.”  Pope Francis gave this reminder to the Ambassadors of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) as he met them in the Vatican on Saturday.

Defending the faith and serving the poor are inseparable

In his address the Holy Father remarked that their mission of defending the faith and serving the poor (“tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum”) are “inseparable”, as evidenced in their Constitutional Charter. “In serving them, you serve Jesus”, he reiterated, recalling the Gospel episode of Mary of Bethany anointing Christ’s feet.

The diplomatic activity  the Order carries out in the world, stressed the Pope,  must therefore be considered in this perspective, which is what makes it a lay religious order of the Catholic Church, while being at the same time a sovereign state subject to international law.

“Indeed,” the Pope said, “there are not two different realities: the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a subject of international law devoted to works of charity and assistance, and the religious Institute."

A sovereign state and a religious order subject to the Holy See

Recalling that as a religious order SMOM is subject to the Holy See and to the obedience to the Pope through the Grand Master, Pope Francis highlighted the importance of a ”fruitful collaboration and joint action for the good of the Church and society” between the diplomatic Representatives of the Order and the local Papal Legates . 

This  connection of SMOM with the Pope, he explained   “is not a limitation of its freedom, but a safeguard, that finds expression in the solicitude of Peter for ensuring its greater good, as has happened more than once, also by direct interventions in moments of difficulty.”

Bringing his address to a close, Pope Francis thanked the Order of Malta  for its "humanitarian diplomacy", while insisting that it must continue to carry it out under the supervision  of the Holy See. “This dependence,” he said,   “does not diminish the importance of its diplomatic representations, but rather allows their meaning to be even better understood, as channels of the Order’s apostolic and charitable activity, open and generous especially wherever the greatest need exists.”