Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, Lieutenant of the Grand Master, has had a busy agenda these last few days.

Blessed Gerard Retreat

The eleventh Blessed Gerard Retreat commenced on 1st December in the Magistral Villa in Rome. Forty of the Order’s young members participated, coming from nineteen Grand Priories and National Associations on three continents. This meeting offers a greater understanding of the Order of Malta, of its central structures and the opportunity to meet those responsible for the Order’s government, as well as enriching one’s personal spirituality.

In his speech, the Lieutenant stressed that “each of us in our different roles, all equally important, plays a part in the construction of peace. In the Order, all can find a place to play their part – the high offices in the government of the Order, our chaplains in the spiritual accompaniment of members and volunteers, our ambassadors in bringing a message of peace free of any political influence, and you also in performing the Order’s works. As in a puzzle, the parts have different shapes and colours: if taken individually it is often difficult to understand their significance, but taken as a whole they create a great design, a design of peace”.

Solemn Vows of Alessandro de Franciscis

On 2nd December, some 200 people attended Holy Mass in the Church of St. Anselmo, Piazza Cavalieri di Malta in Rome, during which the Lieutenant of the Grand Master Fra’ Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto received the solemn and perpetual vows of Alessandro de Franciscis. Born in 1955, Alessandro De Franciscis is a surgeon and since 2009 president of the Medical Bureau of the Lourdes Sanctuary, the special office that examines the cases of miraculous cures. Having entered the Order of Malta in 2012 as Knight of Honour and Devotion, the following year he began the spiritual process that led him to become a professed member of the Order.

Numerous authorities attended the Holy Mass, celebrated by Msgr. Jean Laffitte, Prelate of the Order of Malta, including members of the Sovereign Council, a large delegation of professed knights, presidents of National Associations, ambassadors, knights and dames of the Order of Malta, relations and friends.

Meetings of the Working Groups for Reform

Meetings of three working groups studying the proposals for amending the Constitutional Charter and Code were held in Rome recently. Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre met the members of Groups 2 (Second Class), 8 (Government Structure and Governance) and 9 (Local Organizations). In thanking them for the work carried out to date and for their personal commitment, he stressed how important it was to reassert the Order’s religious identity under its twofold charisma ‘Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum’. The aim of this reform process is to “update the Order of Malta’s capability to respond at central and local level to present and future humanitarian challenges”.