Vatican orders Knights of Malta to cooperate with papal inquiry

The Vatican demanded on Tuesday that the leaders of the Knights of Malta, a worldwide Catholic chivalric and charity group, cooperate with an inquiry into alleged irregularities ordered by Pope Francis.

In a statement, the Vatican rejected what it called an attempt by the Rome-based Knights to discredit a Vatican-appointed commission investigating the dismissal of a top official over a condom scandal.

"The Holy See counts on the complete cooperation of all in this sensitive stage," the statement said, adding that it "rejects ... any attempt to discredit (commission) members."

Albrecht von Boeselager was dismissed as Grand Chancellor on 6 December by the Knights’ Grand Master, Matthew Festing, with the reasons dating back to when he was Grand Hospitaller from 1989 to 2014 and in charge of Malteser International, the Knights’ large humanitarian aid agency located in 24 countries. During his tenure, the organisation is documented to have distributed thousands of condoms and oral contraceptives, mainly but not exclusively to help prevent prostitutes in the Far East and Africa contracting HIV/AIDS.
Boeselager denies the charges.

The Vatican said that it "reaffirms its confidence" in the commission appointed last month by Francis to investigate Boeselager dismissal, calling the issue a "crisis of the central direction" of the ancient aristocratic lay Catholic order.

The Knights have defied the pope, refusing to cooperate with the investigation into the dismissal or to recognise the inquiry's legitimacy.