Vatican backs papal commission investigating Order of Malta

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN
CITY (CNS) — The Vatican confirmed its trust in the papal commission
investigating the forced resignation of the Order of Malta’s former grand
chancellor following a letter by the order’s grand master to discredit the
group.

In
a statement released Jan. 17, the Vatican said it “reaffirms its
confidence” in the five-member group established by Pope Francis “to
inform him about the present crisis of the central direction of the
order.”

The
Vatican also rejected “any attempt to discredit these members of the group,”
led by Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, former Vatican representative to U.N.
agencies in Geneva.

Other
members of the commission are: Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a canon
lawyer and former rector of Rome’s
Pontifical Gregorian University; Jacques de Liedekerke, former chancellor of
the Order of Malta; Marc Odendall, counselor of the order; and Marwan Sehnaoui,
president of the Order of Malta in Lebanon.

In a letter to members, obtained and reported
Jan. 16 by The Tablet, a London-based Catholic news weekly, the order’s grand
master, Fra Matthew Festing, accused three of the commission members of having
links to “a fund in Geneva.”

While
admitting that there was no immediate evidence of “anything
untoward,” Festing said that “personal and financial links make the
commission members clearly unfit to address the situation objectively.”

The
Tablet also reported that Festing said he would establish his own
“commission of inquiry into the situation,” adding that the papal
commission will be kept “at arm’s length” until his inquiry is
concluded.

Despite
the increasing tensions with the order, the Vatican reiterated its support for
“the commendable work that members and volunteers” with the Order of
Malta carry out in various parts of the world in defense of the faith and in
service to the poor and the sick.

However,
it also called on all members of the order to cooperate with the commission and
its work.

“The
Holy See counts on the complete cooperation of all in this sensitive stage and
awaits the report of the above-mentioned group in order to adopt — within its
area of competence — the most fitting decisions for the good of the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta and of the church,” the Vatican said.


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