Katerina Sakellaropoulou welcomed the Grand Master to the Presidential Palace Sovereign Military Hospital Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and MaltaJohn Dalap, who is in Greece for a two-day official visit at the invitation of the President of the Republic herself.
The President of the Republic, in a special ceremony, awarded Grand Master John Dunlap with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Savior. In turn, the Grand Master presented the President with the Necklace of the Order pro Merito Melitensi.
After the meeting with the President of the Republic, the Grand Master will fly to Rhodes in his private jet to inaugurate at noon on Saturday, together with the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, the exhibition entitled “From the Ioannites to the Knights of Malta” which is hosted in the Grand Master’s Palace. In fact, he is accompanied by a nine-member mission consisting, among others, of the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Commentary and the Grand Hospitaller.
But who is the Grand Master and who does he represent?
His full title is Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, often referred to as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMO).
It is considered a continuation of the order of the Knights of St. John that operated in Europe and the Middle East during the time of the Crusades.
The KSTM is a sovereign entity, partially recognized as an observer member in the United Nations, as well as an order of the Roman Catholic Church based in Rome, whose members are also referred to as Knights of Malta/ Knights of Rhodes or as Knights of St. John or Hospitallers or and Melitaeans in older documents. The Constitutional Governor is the Grand Master, whose term of office is for life.
On June 13, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Dunlap as Deputy Grand Master of the Order. The consecration of Fra’ John Dunlap was made possible by the 2022 revisions to the Order’s constitution ordered by Pope Francis, which removed the traditional requirement that the Grand Master be able to demonstrate noble descent.
The Order of Malta has diplomatic relations with 103 states as well as the European Union. The knights today are a separate entity, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, recognized by the UN and numbering 12,500 members, 80,000 permanent volunteers and 13,000 medical personnel.
John Dunlap was born in Ottawa, Canada, worked as a lawyer and legal adviser to the Vatican. He is considered a ruler… without a state.
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