Pope to Order of Malta: works a sign of Christian hope
(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI received a group of Knights and Dames of Malta
today, as part of celebrations marking the 900th anniversary of the creation
of their organization as a Sovereign Military Order under Papal protection. It was
on the 15th of February, in the year 1113, that Pope Paschal II issued
the Bull Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, by which he placed the newly created “hospitaller
fraternity” of Jerusalem under the protection of the Church and gave it sovereign
status, constituting it as an Order in church law, with the faculty freely to elect
its superiors without interference from other lay or religious authorities. In his
remarks to the Knights and Dames, Pope Benedict tied the anniversary to the Year of
Faith, during which, he said, “[T]he Church is called to renew the joy and the commitment
of believing in Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world.” Pope Benedict went on
to praise the Order of Malta for its nine centuries’ history of faithfulness to the
Church. “Continue to walk along this path,” he said, “ bearing concrete witness to
the transforming power of faith.” Since its founding, the Order of Malta has been
dedicated to the care of the sick, to solidarity and to human promotion, all inspired
by Christian commitment to living the Gospel. At present, the Order of Malta is active
in over 120 countries, supported by the diplomatic relations it currently has with
104 nations. The Order runs hospitals, medical centres, day hospitals, nursing homes
for the elderly and the disabled, and special centres for the terminally ill. In many
countries the Order’s volunteer corps provide first aid, social services, emergency
and humanitarian interventions. The Pope called on the Knights and Dames of today
and tomorrow to preserve and cultivate this qualifying characteristic and work with
renewed apostolic ardour, maintaining an attitude of profound harmony with the Magisterium
of the Church. “Dear friends,” said Pope Benedict, “Continue working in society and
in the world along the elevated paths indicated by the Gospel – faith and charity,
for the renewal of hope.” Listen: 
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