Tensions between the Holy See and the Order of Malta are high after the statement in which the Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing publicly declared
that the Order does not intend to collaborate in any way with the
commission established by the Holy See in light of the Grand Chancellor,
Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager’s removal. He was accused of having condoms distributed during the course of a humanitarian initiative in Myanmar in recent years. Boeselager defended himself by saying he knew nothing about this move, which was decided on a local level, and that he intervened as soon as he heard about it.
In a pointed letter from the Grand Master, the Order lays claim to its sovereignty, reminding everyone that it has its own independent rules and that the Pope must not interfere in internal affairs. Yet the attempt to involve the Pope by asking him to give his backing to the dismissal of some Knights, came from the Order, or rather, from its patron cardinal, Raymond Leo Burke and the whole affair began with a letter from Francis himself.
On 5 January, The Tablet revealed the existence of a letter, which the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sent Fra’ Matthew Festing on 21 December 2016, informing him that the Pope did not want von Boeselager removed.
“As I expressed to you in my letter of 12 December 2016: ‘as far as the use and diffusion of methods and means contrary to the moral law, His Holiness has asked for dialogue as the way to deal with, and resolve, eventual problems. But he has never spoken of sending someone away!’”
So there are two letters Parolin addressed to the Grand Master and already in the first of these, dated 12 December, there was reference to what the Pope has “asked” for. But why and when did Francis get involved in the internal affairs of the Knights requesting something?
It all started on 10 November 2016, when the Pope received the Order’s patron cardinal, Raymond Leo Burke, in an audience.
There was less than a week to go before the publication of the famous “dubia” regarding the “Amoris Laetitia”, presented a month and a half earlier but this was apparently not what the dispute was about.
In the days following the audience, Francis sent Burke a letter addressed to the heads of the Knights of Malta, inviting them to resolve the controversy with dialogue while ensuring the respect of Catholic morality (a not so implicit reference to the issue involving the distribution of condoms in Myanmar, used as a pretext to justify von Boeselager’s dismissal) and to watch out for any associations contrary to the Church from infiltrating the Order.
It appears that the cardinal asked the Pope to approve the removal of various members of the Order including the Grand Chancellor. Francis intervened, recalling certain principles, at the same time calling for the matter to be discussed internally, without purging anyone.
When it came to removing von Boeselager, the Vatican, or rather, the Pope’s approval was mentioned by way of justification. Francis and the Holy See were thus brought into the affair so that they could corroborate the shocking decision taken and shared by the Grand Master and the patron cardinal. This is partly why the cardinal Secretary of State, Francis’ right hand man, sent the two letters which followed, on top of the initial letter sent by Francis: to reiterate what the Pope had actually asked for and deny the words that had been put into his mouth.
It is hard to tell how this controversy - which is not the first in the history of the Order’s relations with the Vatican - is going to end. The clear stance taken by the Grand Master in the letter that states the Order’s refusal to cooperate with the commission established by the Holy See, claiming that it has no right to interfere in the Order’s affairs, is a testament to how high tensions are.
Meanwhile, the commission responded in equally clear terms to the tough statement issued by the Grand Master, with a legal note published by the Catholic News Service, the news agency of US Catholic bishops, recalling that the decision to establish the group did not come from the Secretary of State but from the Pope himself.
It reminds the Knights of Malta that as a lay religious order and as a legal body that is recognised by the Holy See, “professed knights and chaplains bind themselves to obey the Holy Father”.
The legal note recalls that the commission established by Pope Francis "is completely legitimate and authorized" to investigate the matter and inform the Pope, also about the circumstances surrounding the removal of von Boeselager, “This is not about interfering in the internal affairs of the order,” the note states, “because the purpose of the commission, as is evident, is to give an account to the Holy Father on the procedures (used to remove von Boeselager) and nothing else”.