Pope meets the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

February 09, 2013: ‘You are called to deepen your knowledge of the Lord and to cause the truth and beauty of the faith to shine forth, through the witness of your lives and your service today’, said Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday. He was speaking to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in Vatican, on the occasion of the 9^th centenary of the solemn privilege of "Piae postulatio voluntatis" of Pope Paschal II on 15 February 1113. This papal bull placed the newly created Hospitaller Order of St. John the Baptist, under the protection of the Holy See, formalizing its spiritual and institutional identity.

This important event takes on a special meaning in the context of the Year of Faith, during which the Church is called to renew the joy and the commitment of believing in Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world. The Order, from its earliest days, has been marked by fidelity to the Church and to the Successor of Peter, and also for its spiritual identity, characterized by high religious ideals. Continue to walk along this path, bearing concrete witness to the transforming power of faith, exhorted the Pontiff.

By faith, down the centuries, the members of your Order have given themselves completely, firstly in the care of the sick in Jerusalem and then in aid to pilgrims in the Holy Land who were exposed to grave dangers. In the nineteenth century, the Order opened up to new and more ample forms of apostolate in the area of charitable assistance and service of the sick and the poor, but without ever abandoning the original ideals, especially that of the intense spiritual life of individual members. In this sense, your commitment must continue with a very particular attention to the religious consecration – of the professed members – which constitutes the heart of the Order. You must never forget your roots, when Blessed Gérard and his companions consecrated themselves with vows to the service of the poor, and their vocation was sanctioned by the privilege Papal bull, Pope Benedict reminded them.

Your esteemed activity, carried out in a variety of fields and in different parts of the world, and particularly focused on care of the sick through hospitals and health-care institutes, is not mere philanthropy, but an effective expression and a living testimony of evangelical love, added the Pope.

The activities of the Knights of Malta offers medical, social and humanitarian support in 120 countries worldwide, thanks to 13,500 members, 80,000 volunteers and over 25,000 doctors, nurses and paramedics.

Earlier on Saturday, Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, celebrated the Eucharist for the members of the Order of Malta, in St. Peter's Basilica.

During his homily, Cardinal Bertone said: The term Order means that the institution is primarily religious and belongs to the realm of consecrated life in the Catholic Church, with its specificities recognized by the various Popes through the centuries. This life of perfection is proposed, to varying degrees, to Catholic gentlemen and ladies, as well as priests - all enlivened by altruistic nobility of mind and behavior.

Throughout its history, the Order has often defended by the sword the Catholic faith and its various charities. The current battles are no longer fought as formerly, but by peaceful means in the fight against disease, poverty, exclusion and intolerance, and the defense and spread of the Catholic faith. The Order will miss their vocation if the spread of the Catholic faith is no longer their first duty. Faith is the soul of this charity. May the intuition of Blessed Gerard, to live in a specific way the alliance between faith and charity, continue to inspire your life and your ministry.