We gather together in churches around the world in this Christmas season to reflect on the Christian values our Saviour taught us and to thank him for the blessings he has bestowed upon us during the year.

The past year has seen three terrible natural disasters: the tsunami in south-east Asia, the hurricane which hit Louisiana and the earthquake which caused so much death and destruction in Pakistan. In each case the Order’s international relief service, Malteser International, reacted quickly and sent medical and assessment teams with medicines and equipment in a very short time. Also, our volunteers and friends were extremely generous in sending money for the benefit of those afflicted, and I thank them most sincerely.

The number of countries with which the Order has diplomatic relations rises to 94.

On 13 December 2005 diplomatic relations between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Republic of Angola were established through the signing of a protocol at the premises of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Order of Malta to the United Nations in New York.

The agreement was signed by Ambassador Robert L. Shafer, Ambassador and Permanent Observer of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the United Nations and Ambassador Ismael Abraao Gaspar Martins, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Angola to the United Nations.

Ruins that before the tsunami were villages and towns in India, Cambogia and Vietnam. Villages in the deserts of Niger and Mali, the last outposts of people decimated by famine. Shelters for the homeless in Belgium, where so many victims of marginalization and poverty rediscover hope for the future. Three scenarios, three very different emergencies, but all with a common denominator: the tireless work of all those members, doctors, nurses and volunteers who here and in a thousand other places in the world serve their fellow people under the banner of the eight-pointed cross. A commitment that continues today as it did nine centuries ago.
The conference on “The Order of Malta’s International Medical and Relief Action” was held in Rome on 5 December in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, received Dr. Gerd Westdickenberg Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Holy See, in the Magistral Palace on 6 December.

The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, received Pierre Morel Ambassador of France to the Holy See, in the Magistral Palace on 29 November.

The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, received Professor Pietro Lunardi Italian Minister for Infrastructures and Transport, in the Magistral Palace on 29 November.

The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, received Senator Domenico Fisichella Vice President of the Italian Senate, in the Magistral Palace on 28 November.

The digital version of the revised and updated edition of the Activity Report of the Order of Malta is now available in English online.

The Report includes the range of activities undertaken by Order organisations throughout 2004 and up until the end of September 2005. It also carries up to date information for the Order’s senior office bearers, all currently appointed ambassadors and all addresses for Order organisations around the world.

The publication in PDF format can be downloaded from the Activity Reports section of this site.

World Summit on the Information Society.
Tunis, 16 – 18 November 2005.
Address of Dr. Franz Harnoncourt-Unverzagt, President, Board of Communication, Personal representative of H.M.E. The Grand Master.

Without communication there is no understanding, without understanding there is no peace.

The importance of this United Nations World Summit on the Information Society is to identify in practical terms how to use communication technologies in the most effective and realistic ways available, in order to help the poor, the deprived and the illiterate in the developing world. The Order of Malta recognises, and strongly applauds, the need for dissemination of information through technological means as a way of reducing poverty, extending knowledge and information, and therefore promoting good practice in whatever undertaking.

The Grand Master Fra’ Andrew Bertie received in the afthernoon of November 24 the Prime Minister of Belize Said Musa. Also present at the meeting were the Order’s Grand Chancellor Jean-Pierre Mazery. The Sovereign Order of Malta and Belize Republic have enjoyed bilateral diplomatic relations since 2000.