VATICAN CITY
Reuters
By Philip Pullella | VATICAN CITY
The Vatican demanded on Tuesday that the leaders of the Knights of Malta, a worldwide Catholic chivalric and charity group, cooperate with an inquiry into alleged irregularities ordered by Pope Francis.
In the latest salvo of a battle of wills between the heads of two of the world’s oldest institutions, a Vatican statement also rejected what it said was an attempt by the Rome-based Knights to discredit members of a papal commission of inquiry.
Both sides have been locked in a bitter dispute since one of the order’s top knights, Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, was sacked on Dec. 6 in the chivalric equivalent of a boardroom showdown – ostensibly because he allowed the use of condoms in a medical project for the poor.
The all-male hierarchy of the group, whose top leaders are not clerics but take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, have defied the pope, refusing to cooperate with the investigation of the sacking or recognise the inquiry’s legitimacy.
“The Holy See counts on the complete cooperation of all in this sensitive stage,” the statement said, adding that it “rejects … any attempt to discredit (commission) members.”
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