Knights of Malta fight civil war over Catholic reforms

By Tom Kington
Times (UK)
January 16, 2017

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/claims-of-coup-over-condoms-in-ancient-catholic-order-tpj5tw7z0

Matthew Festing, 67, a former Grenadier Guards officer, has been accused of violating the order’s constitution in an attempt to grab power.

The British grand master of the Knights of Malta, a thousand-year-old Roman Catholic chivalric order, has staged a coup d’état at the organisation and is surrounding himself with a powerful, unelected clique, it has been alleged.

A senior member, who declined to be named, said that Matthew Festing, 67, a former Grenadier Guards officer and Sotheby’s auctioneer, had violated the order’s constitution in an attempt to grab power.

In December Mr Festing suspended Albrecht von Boeselager, the order’s grand chancellor, the equivalent of its foreign minister, accusing the German aristocrat of allowing the distribution of condoms, which is against Catholic teaching, as part of the order’s charity work. Mr von Boeselager said that he had put a stop to the condom handout when he became aware of it. “In what amounts to a coup d’état the grand master has seized control of the government of the order from those elected,” said the member, who is American.

The Order of Malta was founded in the 11th century to care for pilgrims in the Holy Land. Today it manages humanitarian operations and still considers itself a sovereign state, maintaining diplomatic relations with 106 countries from Rome. The order’s members commit to obeying the Pope but when Pope Francis ordered an investigation into Mr von Boeselager’s ousting, Mr Festing denounced the inquiry as an intrusion into the order’s sovereignty. The row has been cast as a clash between the conservative wing of the church and Francis’s brand of liberal Catholicism.

The church’s ambassador to the order, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who is seen as siding with Mr Festing, is a long-time conservative foe of the Pope. Mr Festing warned members not to disagree with the sacking when questioned by Vatican inspectors but the member preferred to speak out. “It was the grand master who chose to involve the Holy See in the matter over a year ago,” the member said. “He cannot simply retreat from the process set down by the Holy Father because it no longer seems to suit his purpose.”