ROME (AP) — The Latest on the resignation of the Knights of Malta head (all times local):

The Vatican says Pope Francis will name a pontifical delegate to run the embattled Knights of Malta, effectively taking over the sovereign lay Catholic order after its leader resigned in a bitter dispute with the pontiff over condoms.

The move marks an extraordinary intervention of one sovereign state — the Holy See — into the governance of another — the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an ancient aristocratic order that runs a vast charity operation around the globe.

A statement from the Vatican said Francis accepted the resignation of the order’s grand master, Matthew Festing, which he had offered Tuesday.

The statement said the order’s governance would shift temporarily to the No. 2 “until the pontifical delegate is named.”

The head of the Knights of Malta has resigned after entering into a public spat with Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal.

Marianna Balfour, spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order, told The Associated Press that Matthew Festing had met with the pope on Tuesday and offered his resignation.

In an email, Balfour said that “I can confirm this.”

Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the order’s charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights’ status as a sovereign entity in refusing to cooperate. </s> ROME (AP) – The Latest on the resignation of the Knights of Malta head (all times local):

3:40 p.m. – The Knights of Malta has summoned its top governing body for a special session to formally accept the resignation of its leader after the pope announced a takeover of the sovereign lay Catholic group.

The meeting is set for Saturday.

The Vatican announced it was taking over the order after the chief knight, Matthew Festing, openly defied Pope Francis in a public spat over condoms. Festing resigned on Tuesday and the Vatican announced it would name a papal delegate to run the order.

The Vatican’s intervention is extraordinary given the Knights of Malta isn’t a typical religious order like the Jesuits, but rather a sovereign entity under international law, one that has diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries, the Holy See included.

1:25 p.m. – The Vatican says Pope Francis will name a pontifical delegate to run the embattled Knights of Malta, effectively taking over the sovereign lay Catholic order after its leader resigned in a bitter dispute with the pontiff over condoms.

The move marks an extraordinary intervention of one sovereign state – the Holy See – into the governance of another – the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an ancient aristocratic order that runs a vast charity operation around the globe.

A statement from the Vatican said Francis accepted the resignation of the order’s grand master, Matthew Festing, which he had offered Tuesday.

The statement said the order’s governance would shift temporarily to the No. 2 “until the pontifical delegate is named.”

8:20 a.m. – The head of the Knights of Malta has resigned after entering into a public spat with Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal.

Marianna Balfour, spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order, told The Associated Press that Matthew Festing had met with the pope on Tuesday and offered his resignation.

In an email, Balfour said that “I can confirm this.”

Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the order’s charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights’ status as a sovereign entity in refusing to cooperate.

The following video of Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger attending Pope Francis’ weekly audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 was posted on The Associated Press YouTube channel: </s> ROME (AP) — The Knights of Malta say Pope Francis has written to their leaders stressing the sovereignty of the ancient Catholic lay order, following a condom scandal linked to the order's charitable work.

The order's Sovereign Council in Rome on Saturday accepted the resignation of Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing, who had sacked the order's foreign minister, Albrecht von Boeselager. The minister was removed as grand chancellor following revelations that condoms were distributed in Myanmar under his watch.

The Vatican intervened on the minister's behalf. On Saturday, the council scrapped the disciplinary measures against von Boeselager, who resumes his post. The Knights say Francis in his letter Friday stressed the order's sovereignty.

FILE - In this June 23, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis delivers his blessing during his meeting with Grand Master of the Knights of Malta Matthew Festing, left, at the Vatican. The Knights of Malta is still insisting on its sovereignty in its showdown with the Vatican, even after Pope Francis effectively took control of the ancient religious order and announced a papal delegate would govern it through a "process of renewal." ( Gabriel Bouys/ Pool Photo via AP, files)

Until Festing's successor is elected, Fra' Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein serves as its interim leader.

FILE -- In this June 20, 2014 file photo, Pope Francis blesses the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra' Matthew Festing, during a private audience in the pontiff's private library at the Vatican. The Knights of Malta is still insisting on its sovereignty in its showdown with the Vatican, even after Pope Francis effectively took control of the ancient religious order and announced a papal delegate would govern it through a "process of renewal." (AP Photo/Claudio Peri, Pool)

FILE -- In this June 23, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis, flanked at left by Grand Master of the Knights of Malta Matthew Festing, stands during a family photo at the Vatican. The Knights of Malta is still insisting on its sovereignty in its showdown with the Vatican, even after Pope Francis effectively took control of the ancient religious order and announced a papal delegate would govern it through a "process of renewal." ( Gabriel Bouys/ Pool photo via AP) </s> Yesterday, the Grand Master of the 13,000-strong Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Fra Matthew Festing, hurried across Rome from his order’s headquarters near the Spanish Steps, on the most luxurious shopping street in all of Rome, the via Condotti, toward Vatican City.

Pope Francis had summoned him to a meeting.

At about 5 in the afternoon, Festing entered the Vatican and proceeded to the Domus Santa Marta guest house, where the Pope lives.

There, the two men huddled for a private meeting.

At the end of the meeting, Pope Francis asked Festing to submit his resignation as the head of the Knights of Malta.

Today, Festing did so, with communiques from both the Vatican and the Knights of Malta announcing the news of the resignation, and the news that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation. (Though, technically, the resignation must be presented on January 28 to the Malta order’s governing council, which must accept it to make it official, and only then inform the Pope for his knowledge; but the Pope’s acceptance of the resignation having already occurred, it is not clear what purpose the January 28 meeting can have.)

Here below, a picture of Pope Francis with Festing, who has just resigned as head of the Knights of Malta; in the background on the left is Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, Prefect of the Pontifical Household and personal secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI



 So the Knights of Malta are suddenly without a leader.

Moreover, in a further startling development, the Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will soon announce his personal choice to be his “delegate” to temporarily run the more than 900-year-old military order. of Malta.

This is unprecedented. The order has always elected its own Grand Master. Never has a Pope acted in this way before toward the order. And this has raised eyebrows worldwide. (link and link)

In the first link just cited, Ed Condon writes in the Catholic Herald of London, “The most remarkable thing about the Order of Malta controversy is not that the Grand Master, Fra’ Matthew Festing, has resigned. That is extraordinary enough, especially given that it was apparently on the invitation of Pope Francis. No, the most astonishing feature of the story is today’s announcement that the Pope will install an Apostolic Delegate to run the Order. In effect, this abolishes the Order as a sovereign entity. Under international law, what we are seeing is effectively the annexation of one country by another.”

So this action of Pope Francis is a dramatic break with all of the order’s history up to now.

What does it mean?

In this case, as in so any others, the old adage again applies: “Those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know.”

But perhaps we may catch at least a glimpse into the meaning of these events if we study the various official communiques and media reports, while for context and background we rely on several off-the-record conversations recently in Rome.

These reports and these conversations suggest that a struggle of considerable importance is currently underway in Rome, in the global Church, and in the world outside of the Church, over the direction humanity will take in the years and decades to come.

There are presently two huge threats to the Church, a Scylla and a Charybdis which the Church must pass between or be profoundly harmed: the rejection of traditional Church teaching in order to accommodate the Church to the teaching of “the world,” on the one hand, and, on the other hand, schism.

The first would betray the Church’s nature and mission; the second would cost the Church dearly as the world would likely exploit the divisions in a devastating way.

The battle over the leadership of the Knights of Malta must be seen in this context.

Moreover, during the past several months, quietly and privately on most occasions, but sometimes publicly, a word has been whispered and spoken aloud in Rome in a way unlike any other time in the 33 years that I have been writing about Vatican affairs. That word is freemasonry.

“The fact is that the thought of freemasonry, which was the thought of the Enlightenment, believes Christ and his teachings, as taught by the Church, are an impediment to human freedom and self-fulfillment,” a retired Vatican official told me. “And this thought has become dominant in the elites of the West, even when those elites are not officially members of any freemasonic lodge. It is a pervasive modern worldview.”

This bears repeating and emphasizing: in any particular case, it may not be so much actual membership in a masonic lodge that is involved, but rather adherence to principles of that “masonic thought” which views man in a “Promethean” way, that man should “steal fire from heaven,” wrest it from the gods for the benefit of men, seek ever greater knowledge (computers, the genetic code, transhumanism, Homo Sapiens Version 2.0, “better” than the species currently is), not accepting any limit to the human ambitions to “be like gods.”

How does this relate to the shake-up at the top of the Order of Malta?

Well, there have recently been an allegation that a high-ranking member of the order (not Festing) approved decisions not in keeping with Catholic moral teaching, and more precisely, sent condoms and other contraceptives in shipments of medical supplies to poor countries — that is, allowed a certain “non-Catholic moral view” to enter into the order’s decision-making.

And, published reports have stated something that few have noted, but which must be studied and explained: that Pope Francis, in a meeting in November with Cardinal Raymond Burke, gave Burke a very unusual instruction.

The Pope, it is reported, during their November 10 meeting, asked Burke, the American cardinal who is the ecclesial Patron of the Knights of Malta,

 to carry out an important and delicate task: to ferret out and remove from the Knights of Malta all members who are… freemasons.

Here is the published source for this information, which comes about halfway through a quite thorough and rather lengthy article which bears reading in full. It is by Edward Pentin published in the National Catholic Register on January 7:

“Hopes that the contraceptive scandal would be addressed came on Nov. 10, when Cardinal Burke was received in private audience by Pope Francis.

“During that meeting, the Register has learned, the Pope was ‘deeply disturbed’ by what the cardinal told him about the contraceptive distribution.

“The Pope also made it clear to Cardinal Burke that he wanted Freemasonry ‘cleaned out’ from the order, and he demanded appropriate action.

“The concern was followed up by a Dec. 1 letter to Cardinal Burke, in which the Register has learned that the Holy Father underlined the cardinal’s constitutional duty to promote the spiritual interests of the order and remove any affiliation with groups or practices that run contrary to the moral law.” (link)

Here, repeated, is the critical phrase:

“The Pope also made it clear to Cardinal Burke that he wanted Freemasonry ‘cleaned out’ from the order…”

Where does this information come from? How reliable is it?

Pentin tells us quite matter-of-factly that “the Register has learned” about the contents of Burke’s November 10 meeting with the Pope.

Evidently, Pentin either spoke with Burke himself, or with someone close to Burke, perhaps one of his secretaries, or he spoke with Pope Francis, because it does not seem possible that anyone other than Burke and Pope Francis could be the source of news about a private conversation between the two men, and about a private letter sent by one to the other.

In short, Burke, seen as one of the leaders of the “traditional” faction in the Church and in the College of Cardinals because of his raising questions about the “progressive” teaching of Pope Francis, especially in Amoris Laetitia, was evidently, in this case, as recently as November 10, and again in a December 1 letter, asked by Pope Francis to carry out a very delicate task, and to do so urgently.

But this would suggest that the two men have a different relationship than the one most of the world seems to have concluded they have…

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“The glory of God is man alive; but the life of man is the vision of God.” —St. Irenaeus of Lyons, in the territory of France, in his great work Against All Heresies, written c. 180 A.D. </s> The Latest: Pope to name delegate to run Knights of Malta

ROME (AP) — The Latest on the resignation of the Knights of Malta head (all times local):

The Vatican says Pope Francis will name a pontifical delegate to run the embattled Knights of Malta, effectively taking over the sovereign lay Catholic order after its leader resigned in a bitter dispute with the pontiff over condoms.

The move marks an extraordinary intervention of one sovereign state — the Holy See — into the governance of another — the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an ancient aristocratic order that runs a vast charity operation around the globe.

A statement from the Vatican said Francis accepted the resignation of the order's grand master, Matthew Festing, which he had offered Tuesday.

The statement said the order's governance would shift temporarily to the No. 2 "until the pontifical delegate is named."

The head of the Knights of Malta has resigned after entering into a public spat with Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal.

Marianna Balfour, spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order, told The Associated Press that Matthew Festing had met with the pope on Tuesday and offered his resignation.

In an email, Balfour said that "I can confirm this."

Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the order's charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity in refusing to cooperate.

FILE - In this June 25, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis greets the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta Matthew Festing, right, at the end of a private audience in the Pontiff's private library at the Vatican. Festing resigned after entering into a public spat with Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal, a spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order said on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2013 file photo, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta Matthew Festing waits for the start of a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Tacisio Bertone, not pictured, to mark the 900th anniversary of the Order of the Knights of Malta, at the Vatican. Festing resigned after entering into a public spat with Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal, a spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order said on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File) </s> (supersedes previous) Vatican City, January 25 - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the head of the Knights of Malta, Fra' Matthew Festing after a row over distributing condoms in Myanmar, the Vatican press office said on Wednesday. "Yesterday, January 24, Fra' Matthew Festing handed in his resignation during an audience with the Holy Father," the source said. "Today, January 25, the Holy Father accepted this resignation, expressing to Fra' Festing his appreciation and gratitude for his loyalty and devotion to the successor to Peter and readiness to humbly serve the good of the Order and the Church," the press office added. The Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), commonly known as the Knights of Malta, must now present his resignation to its supreme council, which is due to meet on Saturday for this purpose. Festing was reportedly asked by the pope to resign in relation to the December ouster of SMOM grand chancellor, Albrecht Freiherr, over revelations that the order's charity arm had distributed condoms in Myanmar under his watch. Freiherr's dismissal was reportedly backed by the pope's envoy to the order, conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke, against Francis' advice. The ouster led to a period of internal division within the order, culminating in Festing's meeting with the pope on Tuesday. SMOM, the smallest sovereign State in the world, runs a large charity-hospital organization around the world, and has recently provided humanitarian aid for countless refugees and migrants. The Knights of Malta, as they are more widely known, were founded on the Mediterranean in the 11th century as a military religious order like the Templars. They were removed from Malta by Napoleon. Headquartered in Palazzo Malta in Rome, their mission is summed up in their motto: "Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum"; protecting the Catholic Church and serving those in need. </s> VATICAN CITY—The Vatican announced Wednesday it was taking over the embattled Knights of Malta in an extraordinary display of papal power after the leader of the sovereign lay Catholic order publicly defied Pope Francis in a dispute over condoms.The move is remarkable — and controversial — because it marks the intervention of one sovereign state, the Holy See, into the internal governing affairs of another, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an ancient aristocratic order that runs a vast charity operation around the globe.The Vatican said Matthew Festing, 67, offered to resign as the Knights’ grand master on Tuesday during an audience with the pope, and that Francis had accepted it on Wednesday. A Vatican statement said the Knights’ governance would shift temporarily to the order’s No. 2 "pending the appointment of the papal delegate."Festing had refused to co-operate with a papal commission investigating his decision to oust the order’s grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the Knights’ charity branch had distributed condoms under Boeselager’s watch.Festing had cited the Knights’ status as a sovereign entity in refusing to co-operate with the pope’s investigation. Many canon lawyers had backed him up, questioning the pope’s right to intervene in what was essentially an act of internal governance.Article Continued BelowThe naming of a papal delegate signals a Vatican takeover, harking back to the Vatican’s previous takeovers of the Legion of Christ and Jesuit religious orders when they were undergoing periods of scandal or turmoil.But those are religious orders that report directly to the Holy See. The Knights of Malta is a sovereign entity under international law, making the Vatican intervention all the more remarkable.The Order of Malta has many trappings of a sovereign state, issuing its own stamps, passports and license plates and holding diplomatic relations with 106 states, the Holy See included. </s> Rome, May 2 - Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto was elected as 80th Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta (the Knights of Malta) on Wednesday. The Order's elective body of 54 members elected him, the order said in a statement. Dalla Torre was elected as head for a year on April 29 last year as Lieutenant Grand Master, and now assumes the lifetime post of Grand Master. In January last year Pope Francis accepted the resignation of the then head of the Knights of Malta, Fra' Matthew Festing, after a row over distributing condoms in Myanmar. The Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), commonly known as the Knights of Malta, went on to present his resignation to its supreme council. Festing was reportedly asked by the pope to resign in relation to the December 2016 ouster of SMOM grand chancellor, Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, over revelations that the order's charity arm had distributed condoms in Myanmar under his watch. Von Boeselager's dismissal was reportedly backed by the pope's envoy to the order, conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke, against Francis' advice. Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating von Boeselager's removal, and cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity. SMOM runs a large charity-hospital organization around the world, and has recently provided humanitarian aid for countless refugees and migrants. It has diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union, and permanent observer status at the United Nations. The Knights of Malta, as they are more widely known, were founded on the Mediterranean in the 11th century as a military religious order like the Templars. They were removed from Malta by Napoleon. Headquartered in Palazzo Malta in Rome, their mission is summed up in their motto: "Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum"; protecting the Catholic Church and serving those in need. </s> VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will name his own man to run the Knights of Malta temporarily after the head of the ancient chivalric and charity institution resigned in the climax of a bitter dispute over sovereignty with the Vatican.

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis (R) meets Robert Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta during a private audience at the Vatican June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Gabriel Bouys/Pool/File Photo

The pope asked Grand Master Matthew Festing, 67, to step down at a meeting on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Rome-based Catholic institution said. Grand masters usually rule for life.

Festing and the Vatican had been locked in a dispute since the Knights’ Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager was sacked in December in the chivalric equivalent of a boardroom showdown - ostensibly for allowing the use of condoms in a medical project for the poor.

The two-month battle of wills reflected broader opposition inside the Roman Catholic Church to Francis’s efforts to modernize the Holy See and gently unravel the legacy of his conservative predecessors.

The Vatican, which is a sovereign state, said the pope would name a “pontifical delegate” to run the group, which also enjoys sovereign status and is recognized by about 100 countries.

Vatican sources said this was a temporary solution until the Knights were in a position to elect their own leader again.

The move was similar to one in 1983 when the Pope John Paul II named a delegate to temporarily run the Jesuit order, which he feared was becoming too leftist. More recently, the Vatican named a delegate to run the conservative Legionaries of Christ, which has hit by a sexual abuse scandal.

The Knights’ top governing body, the Sovereign Council, was convened for Saturday to take stock of the crisis.

When the dispute broke out, von Boeselager appealed to the pope, who appointed a commission to investigate. Festing, a Briton, refused to cooperate, saying that violated the order’s sovereignty.

CONDOM CONTROVERSY

Some insiders said the push against von Boeselager was an excuse by Festing and arch-conservative American Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, the order’s patron, to increase their power.

Burke, who was demoted from a top Vatican job in 2014, is one of four cardinals who have made a rare public challenge to Francis, accusing him of sowing confusion on moral issues.

The all-male top leaders of the Knights of Malta are not clerics but take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the pope. The institution has 13,500 members, 25,000 employees and 80,000 volunteers worldwide.

The order was formed in the 11th century to provide protection and medical care for pilgrims to the Holy Land.

When Festing fired von Boeselager, he accused the German of hiding the fact that he allowed the use of condoms when he ran Malteser International, the order’s humanitarian aid agency.

The church does not allow condoms as a means of birth control and says abstinence and monogamy in heterosexual marriage is the best way to stop the spread of AIDS.

Von Boeselager said he closed two projects in the developing world when he discovered condoms were being distributed but kept a third running for a while because closing it would have abruptly ended all basic medical services to poor people.
Pope Francis takes de facto control of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the entity retains sovereignty under international law), forcing its leader Prince and Grand Master Matthew Festing to resign.