VATICAN CITY
Daily Journal
By NICOLE WINFIELD –
12/22/16
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis launched an investigation Thursday into the ouster of a top official at the Order of Malta, the ancient aristocratic religious order, amid evidence that Francis’ own envoy to the group engineered the removal without his blessing over a years-old condom scandal.
Albrecht von Boeselager, a high-ranking official in the order for three decades, was removed as grand chancellor Dec. 8 after he refused to resign.
One charge against him concerned a program that the order’s Malteser International aid group had worked several years ago with other aid groups to help sex slaves in Myanmar. The trafficked women had been forced to work as prostitutes and were given condoms to protect themselves from AIDS, two people familiar with the case said.
An internal investigation was conducted and von Boeselager admitted he knew about the condoms, which were distributed by other aid programs, not his. The Vatican was informed, Malteser International’s participation in the program ended and an ethics committee was launched to ensure that future projects adhered to Catholic Church teaching, the officials said.
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