The Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, was received yesterday in Paris by Xing Qu, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, the United Nations specialized agency for education, arts, sciences and culture.
Discussed during the meeting was the Order of Malta’s intention to promote and develop its contribution to UNESCO’s activities. There was particular reference to the protection of religious sites, especially in conflict situations, and the possibility of inscribing the Order of Malta’s historical archives in UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) Register, an international initiative launched in 1992 to safeguard and preserve the documentary heritage with a major impact on world history. The archives of the Sovereign Order of Malta alone, preserved in the National Library of Malta in Valletta, contain over 7000 documents dating back to the 12th century, including the Papal Bull of 1113 which recognised the Order and provided the legal basis for its sovereignty. In addition, there are important archival holdings in several countries of continental Europe that bear witness to the development of the Order of Malta’s activities over the centuries.
Deputy-Director Qu expressed his appreciation for the Order of Malta’s humanitarian activities worldwide and for the initiatives it intends to develop in collaboration with UNESCO. To this end, he has offered the Secretariat’s full cooperation in preparing the proposal for inscribing the Order’s archives in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.
This year, the Sovereign Order of Malta is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its status as Permanent Observer to the United Nations, with its missions in New York, Geneva, Rome and Vienna; since 2000 it has also obtained the status of Permanent Observer to UNESCO.
The Grand Chancellor recently travelled to Paris to attend the annual meeting of ambassadors accredited to the countries where the Ordre de Malte France runs numerous humanitarian initiatives, especially in the public healthcare sector.
