This morning, Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap participated, together with the Professed Members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.
The mass was attended by over 16 thousand consecrated persons from some hundred countries around the world, including men and women religious, monks and nuns, members of secular institutes, of the Ordo virginum, hermits and those belonging to the new forms of consecrated life.
In his homily, Pope Leo XIV said that the history of the Church is dotted with figures of consecrated men and women who, animated by an authentic experience of God, “were ready to become ‘all things to all people’, without distinction, in the most varied ways and situations”.
“To be truly happy,” said the Holy Father, “we need consistent, lasting, and healthy experiences of love. Through the example of your consecrated life, you can be likened to the flourishing trees we sang about in the responsorial psalm (cf. Ps 1:39), spreading the ‘fresh air’ of authentic love throughout the world.”
The Grand Master expressed his gratitude to the Holy Father for the words addressed to the consecrated and renewed his prayers for all Order of Malta members and volunteers worldwide, daily committed to serving the poor and sick.
Yesterday, Fra’ John Dunlap and the Professed of the Order passed through the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, as a sign of communion with the universal Church in the Holy Year of Consecrated Life.
The Jubilee of the Order of Malta will continue in the coming days with moments of prayer, reflection and fraternity, and will conclude on Saturday 11 October 2025 with the Jubilee Pilgrimage of the Venerable Langue of Italy and the Grand Magistry of the Order of Malta, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where the Holy Mass presided over by Cardinal James Harvey, Archpriest of the Basilica, and the passage through the Holy Door, will be a sign of faith and spiritual renewal.
