Sovereign Order of Malta gets its 80th Grand Master
Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto elected
Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto has been elected the 80th Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta. The electing body, the Council Complete of State, the electoral body counting 54 members, met in the Magistral Villa, one of the Order of Malta’s two institutional seats, in Rome.
Elected head of the Order of Malta on 29 April 2017, Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre is now elected for life as Grand Master.
The Order said yesterday that Pope Francis has been informed by letter of the election result. All the Order of Malta’s Grand Priories, Subpriories and National Associations around the world have been informed, as well as its diplomatic missions and those of the 107 countries with which the Order maintains diplomatic relations.
The newly elected Grand Master will swear his oath before the Pope’s Special Delegate to the Sovereign Order of Malta, Archbishop Angelo Becciu, and the members of the Council Complete of State this morning in the Church of Santa Maria in Aventino.
The new Grand Master will be responsible for continuing the reform of the Constitution of the Order of Malta started in 2017, to adapt it to the development that the Order has experienced in recent decades. Currently present in 120 countries around the world with over 2,000 projects in the medical-social field, the Order of Malta has more than 120,000 volunteers and medical staff. The Constitutional Charter and the Code were promulgated in 1961 and partly reformed in 1997.
His first official engagement as Grand Master will be to preside over the 60th Order of Malta International Pilgrimage to Lourdes, which will take place from 5 to 8 May. Every year, over 7,000 members and volunteers from all over the world take part in the pilgrimage. Their number includes1,600 sick and disabled pilgrims. The pilgrimage to Lourdes represents one of the most significant moments in the spiritual life of the Order’s members and volunteers.