Association of Polish Knights of Malta UK
New Book - The Order of Malta: a portrait
The Order of Malta is possibly the most wide-ranging and effective humanitarian organisation in the world. Founded in the eleventh century to provide fest and care for sick pilgrims to Jerusalem, it has survived tribulations which make the wanderings of Ulysses look like a pleasure cruise. Expelled by the Turks first from Jerusalem and then from Rhodes, which had become their seeond horne, in 1530 they moved to Malta. There they settled, resisting the attacks of the Turks and of the swarms of pirates which were the curse of the Mediterranean at the time.
Concentrating on their hospitaller work, they were forced to maintain their military strength in order to survive. In 1798 they were expelled again, this time by Napoleon. Once more homeless, it was not until 1834 that Pope Gregory XVI settled them in Rome, where their headqualters remains to this day.
So much for history. But four-fifths of this handsome and eloquent book cover the activities of the order today, when it has grown to 12,500 full members, 80,000 volunteers and over 20,000 medical personnel. Its task has multiplied in size many times, but still consists of helping the elderly, the disabled, refugees and the homeless, and coming to the aid of victims of war, hurricanes and natural disasters of all kinds. They work in Peru and Bolivia, Haiti and the Congo; they are involved in the plight of Cambodian refugees in Thailand and of lepers in the Sudan; on the battlefields of Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan; in the rehabilitation of the mentally ill. They helped viclims of the earthquake in the Abruzzi, and thcy saved refugees fleeing from Tunisia in their hopelessly unsafe boats, with the help of the Italian navy. The order not only caters for children in necd everywhere, but has developed a large number of care homes for the ever increasing numbers of elderly.
What is it that sets the order apart from the other relief organisations which often do equally good work? First is its obligation to stick up for the Catholic faith (tuitio fidei). Secondly, perhaps, is the sheer momentum buiIt up over the centuries, doggedly moving on when it has been expelled. Thirdly, being a military order as well as a spiritual one, discipline is more deeply rooted in its character. Candidates for the order now have to serve as Companions for three years, in which to gain experience and expertise. Fourthly, it is still a sovereign state. This is an anomaly, since it was stripped of all its territories centuries ago. But it means that many distant countries (including, for instance, Belarus) still eagerly send it their an1bassadors, since they know that the order is better placed than they are themselves to help in times of earthquakes, floods or nudear accidents. The order has an invaluable bank of experience on which it can, and does, draw at high speed.
This beautiful book contains many excellent photographs of the order's work in the field. They illustrate, among other things, the cheerfulness as well as the dedication of its active members, many of them very young (several members of the medical staffhave been killed on battlefields in the recent past). It is a thoroughly worthy portrait of the unceasing efforts of a vast and unique organisation, still devoted to its original purposes of bearing witness to the faith, and of service to "our lords, the sick".
John Joliffe
Reproduced from 'Friends in Need' article in Tablet, 24 September 2011
The Order of Malta: a portrait
Val Horsler and Julian Andrews (ed.)
ISBN 978 1 90650 24 4
TMT GROUP, 192 PP, £45
Tablet books price £40.50 Tel: 01420 592974
View sample pages from the book
