Knights of Malta reinstate sacked Chancellor as Vatican prevails in condoms feud

A victory for Pope Francis has seen the Knights of Malta’s sovereign council vote in favour of accepting Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing’s resignation, with just a small number members voting against.

In a statement, the Order of Malta said Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein had assumed the office of Lieutenant ad interim, and will “remain the Order of Malta’s head until the election of the successor of the Grand Master.” That vote is expected to take place soon.

The Order has also annulled the decrees of disciplinary procedures against Albrecht von Boeselager, who was suspended from the Order and is now reinstated as Grand Chancellor with immediate effect.

After Albrecht von Boeselager was sacked by Matthew Festing (second), Maltese knight John Critien (right) was appointed as Grand Chancellor in his stead. Von Boeselager has now been reappointed Grand Chancellor

Festing had dismissed Boeselager in December after the German knight twice refused to resign over a “failure of trust”, other “confidential” matters, and for being held ultimately responsible for the distribution of contraceptives by the Order’s humanitarian wing, Malteser International, in Myanmar.

After Festing appointed Maltese knight John Critien as Grand Chancellor, the Holy See appointed a committee to inquire into the dismissal. The sacking was said to have taken place in the presence of the Order’s patron and archconservative critic of Francis, Cardinal Raymond Burke.

Festing in turn sent an extraordinary rebuke to Francis, saying the Order’s internal affairs were not the Vatican’s to inquire about – both the Order and the Holy See are sovereign entities recognised by other nations and with observer status at the United Nations.

Festing also accused the committee appointed by Francis of being close associates of Boeselager, who together with three members had been involved in a $118 million bequest to the Order held in a Swiss trust.

Twice the order had dismissed the papal inquiry, but in January the Vatican released a sharply worded statement reminding the Order that despite its sovereignty, it was still a Catholic institution subject to papal authority.

Saturday’s statement from the order seemed to take pains to emphasize their desire to cooperate with the Vatican’s intervention.

“The Sovereign Order of Malta is most grateful to Pope Francis and the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin for their interest in and care for the Order,” it said. “The Order appreciates that the Holy Father’s decisions were all carefully taken with regard to and respect for the Order, with a determination to strengthen its sovereignty.”

Cardinal Raymond Burke

Burke-Francis spat

There is no escaping that a rivalry between Cardinal Burke and Pope Francis has been framed onto the Knights-Vatican feud.

Burke was appointed to the job or the Order’s patron by Francis in November 2014, largely seen as a demotion for the former head of the Holy See’s supreme court, the Apostolic Signatura, and to instead assume a largely ceremonial role as the Knights’ liaison with Rome.

Burke is an outspoken critic of the Church’s direction under the leadership of the Argentine pontiff. Since Francis issued his document on the family, Amoris Laetitia (read more in MaltaToday’s digital print issue) Burke and three other critics published a series of ‘dubia’ – questions on what the document really means for established church teaching.

Although Amoris doesn’t specifically say it, the document – the result of an almost three-year long Synod of Bishops on the issue – is seen as opening the doors for divorced and civilly-remarried Catholics to receive Communion.