Prince Dalla Torre, grand master of Knights of Malta, dies at 75 :-(Prev TopicNext Topic

• eddessaknight

  

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  Apr 30, 2020, 1:33 am

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  Prince Dalla Torre, grand master of Knights of Malta, dies at 75  :-)

  

  PrinceGiacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, attends a consistory in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, who steered the ancient Knights of Malta religious order through an institutional crisis with the Vatican as its prince and grand master, has died. He was 75. The order said Dalla Torre died early Wednesday after being diagnosed several months ago with an incurable disease. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)More

  ROME (AP) — Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, an Italian aristocrat who steered the ancient Knights of Malta religious order after an institutional crisis with the Vatican, has died. He was 75.

  The order said Dalla Torre died early Wednesday after being diagnosed several months ago with an incurable disease. It was not related to the new coronavirus pandemic.

  Dalla Torre was elected prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2018, taking over after a fraught year that saw the previous grand master challenge Pope Francis in an ideological face-off that he eventually lost.

  Dalla Torre knew the Vatican well and quickly managed to mend ties. He was the grandson of the former editor of the Holy See's newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, and the brother of the then-president of the Vatican's criminal tribunal.

  He had spent his career serving in the Knights’ Italian branches and doing charity work, while working at one of Rome’s pontifical universities.

  In a note of condolences Friday, Francis called him a man of “zealous culture and faith” who was dedicated to the “good of the church as well as those who suffer most.”

  The Knights of Malta is an ancient lay Catholic religious order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 3,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who lend first aid in war zones, natural disasters and conflict areas; members also make regular pilgrimages bringing the sick to Catholic shrines.

  The Knights trace their history to the 11th-century Holy Land Crusades and are known for the aristocratic lineage of their members, their fancy, fringed uniforms, and the big Maltese cross that adorns their liturgical robes. Despite their name, they are based in Rome, where their headquarters has the same status as a foreign soverign embassy.

   

  R.I.P.

  Condolences to family, followers and members of Sovereign Military Knights of Malta 

  

  Requiescat in pace 
  
• eddessaknight

  

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  Apr 30, 2020, 4:49 am

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  In response to eddessaknight

  Quote: Originally posted by eddessaknight on Apr 30, 2020

  Prince Dalla Torre, grand master of Knights of Malta, dies at 75  :-)

  

  PrinceGiacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, attends a consistory in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, who steered the ancient Knights of Malta religious order through an institutional crisis with the Vatican as its prince and grand master, has died. He was 75. The order said Dalla Torre died early Wednesday after being diagnosed several months ago with an incurable disease. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)More

  ROME (AP) — Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, an Italian aristocrat who steered the ancient Knights of Malta religious order after an institutional crisis with the Vatican, has died. He was 75.

  The order said Dalla Torre died early Wednesday after being diagnosed several months ago with an incurable disease. It was not related to the new coronavirus pandemic.

  Dalla Torre was elected prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2018, taking over after a fraught year that saw the previous grand master challenge Pope Francis in an ideological face-off that he eventually lost.

  Dalla Torre knew the Vatican well and quickly managed to mend ties. He was the grandson of the former editor of the Holy See's newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, and the brother of the then-president of the Vatican's criminal tribunal.

  He had spent his career serving in the Knights’ Italian branches and doing charity work, while working at one of Rome’s pontifical universities.

  In a note of condolences Friday, Francis called him a man of “zealous culture and faith” who was dedicated to the “good of the church as well as those who suffer most.”

  The Knights of Malta is an ancient lay Catholic religious order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 3,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who lend first aid in war zones, natural disasters and conflict areas; members also make regular pilgrimages bringing the sick to Catholic shrines.

  The Knights trace their history to the 11th-century Holy Land Crusades and are known for the aristocratic lineage of their members, their fancy, fringed uniforms, and the big Maltese cross that adorns their liturgical robes. Despite their name, they are based in Rome, where their headquarters has the same status as a foreign soverign embassy.

   

  R.I.P.

  Condolences to family, followers and members of Sovereign Military Knights of Malta 

  

  Requiescat in pace 
  

  Knights of Malta Grand Master who healed rift with Vatican dies

  By Philip Pullella    1 day ago

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  Knights of Malta Grand Master who healed rift with Vatican dies

  By Philip Pullella

   Pope Francis meets Fra' Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto during a private audience at the Vatican

  ROME (Reuters) - Giacomo Dalla Torre, the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta who steered the global Catholic chivalric order and charity to reconciliation with the Vatican after a period of conflict, died on Wednesday.

  The Knights said Dalla Torre, 75, had been ill for several months.

  He was elected interim leader in 2017 following the abrupt resignation of Matthew Festing, whose final months of governance were marred by a dispute with the Vatican over the running of the group.

  The group's Grand Masters usually rule for life and Festing, a Briton, was the first in several centuries to step down.

  The conflict laid bare tensions between a reformist Pope, Francis, and his conservative critics, led by American Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Knights' chaplain.

  After the Burke faction lost an internal power struggle, Dalla Torre reconciled the group with the Vatican and began a process of reform.

  Dalla Torre was the 80th grand master of the group, whose formal name is Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta.

  It was founded in Jerusalem nearly 1,000 years ago to provide travel protection, hospice rest, medical aid for pilgrims along with secured letters of credit to the Holy Land.

  It now has a multi-million dollar budget, 13,500 members, 80,000 volunteers and 42,000 medical staff running refugee camps, drug treatment centres, disaster relief programs and clinics around the world.

  Since the upheavals that led to Festing's resignation, the order - which is a sovereign entity and has bilateral diplomatic relations with 110 states - has been working on a new constitution.

  Reformers, backed by the Vatican, want to revamp its constitution to make its government more transparent and better able to respond to the massive growth it has seen in recent years.

  They also want to make it possible for commoners to reach top positions. Under the current monarchical hierarchy, the top Knights are required to have noble lineage. The late Grand Master had the rank of prince and his full name was Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto.

  R.I.P.