The State Visit of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra’ John T. Dunlap, took place on 7 and 8 June, during which he met with Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania, a country with which the Order has maintained strong diplomatic relations since 1992. Nearly thirty-five years of close cooperation are reflected in the cooperation agreement signed in 2017 and the numerous humanitarian initiatives carried out throughout the territory.
The visit began on 7 June with the inaugural ceremony of the 6th World Apostolic Congress on Mercy at Saviour’s Hill in Vilnius, an event that brought together over 5,000 faithful from around the world in a moment of prayer, reflection and dialogue. In the afternoon, following the celebration of Holy Mass in Vilnius Cathedral in the presence of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Master delivered an inaugural address: “Building a City of Mercy. A city is not built by decree. It is built brick by brick, relationship by relationship, act of forgiveness by act of forgiveness. […] The city we are here to build will not be completed in five days, nor in five years. But let these days in Vilnius be, for each of us, a moment of renewed commitment.”
Today, the visit to the President of the Republic and the First Lady, Diana Nausėdienė, took place at the Presidential Palace. During the bilateral meeting between the respective delegations, the Grand Master praised the choice of Vilnius as the venue for the Apostolic Congress, noting that it reflects the Christian values of brotherhood and charity on which Lithuanian society is founded. The Grand Master thanked the Presidency for its support of the Order’s activities in the country and expressed his gratitude for President Nauséda’s appreciation of the tireless work carried out by the 2,300 volunteers of the Lithuanian Relief Corps. During the meeting, the President expressed his pleasure and honour in welcoming to Lithuania “the head of one of the oldest institutions of Western civilisation and, according to historians, the world’s oldest humanitarian and medical relief organisation”. He also recalled that official ties between the Order of Malta and Lithuania date back to the early seventeenth century, when the Knights of Malta defended the faith and aided those in need, while their residences became centres of Christian Western culture.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Grand Master, together with the President and the First Lady, met members and volunteers of the Order’s humanitarian organisation serving during the Congress. Sincere appreciation was also expressed for the support that the First Lady has offered on several occasions to the Order’s charitable activities. These include the inauguration of the twentieth Malteser Soup solidarity campaign, which provides daily meals to more than 3,400 lonely or vulnerable people.
Earlier in the day, the Grand Master and the official delegation attended Holy Mass celebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio Georg Gänswein, at the Church of the Holy Cross in Vilnius. The private meeting between Dunlap and Gänswein reaffirmed the Order’s commitment to supporting the most vulnerable, including victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters. Subsequently, the Grand Master travelled to the Antakalnis Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument dedicated to those who fell in the struggle for Lithuania’s independence.
On the sidelines of the first day’s institutional engagements, Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and Grand Hospitaller Josef D. Blotz visited the Museum of Genocide Victims, dedicated to preserving the memory of the suffering endured by the country under Nazi occupation and subsequently, from 1944, under the Soviet regime.
The Order’s Relief Corps in Lithuania
The Maltos Ordino Pagalbos Tarnyba (MOPT), founded in 1991 and now operating in 44 locations with over 2,000 volunteers –including 600 young volunteers– and 214 employees, manages a complex network of services for the elderly, through retirement homes, day centres, home care, and the “Malteser Soup” program. The organization runs day centres for children and adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds, initiatives to accompany young people towards autonomy, services dedicated to persons with disabilities and first-aid training programmes, particularly through the involvement of young people. Also noteworthy is its commitment to responding to recent emergencies, such as the pandemic, the migration crisis on the border with Belarus as well as assisting Ukrainian refugees, who have been provided with thousands of services since 2022, including social counselling, psychological support, language courses and humanitarian aid.
