The Sovereign Military Order of Malta has opened a novitiate in Rome, the first since the mid-18th century, according to an official note issued by the Order itself. In October, during the feast of Blessed Gerard, founder of the institution, the novitiate house welcomed the 2027 class, made up of four young men who received the habit: Swiss Francesco Brenni, American Daniel Johnson, and Spaniards Diego Merry del Val and Alberto Sánchez.
The novitiate house is located inside the General Curia of the Hospitaller Brothers of Saint John of God, the Fatebenefratelli, in Rome’s Gianicolense district, next to Villa Doria Pamphilj. The Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God shares with the Order of Malta a charism of caring for the sick, and its Curia has noted that this collaboration renews an ancient bond: in 1879 the Knights of Malta entrusted their house in Tantur, in the Holy Land, to the Hospitallers.
Inaugural Mass with two cardinals and the Order’s prelate
The inaugural Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S. J., patron of the Order, together with Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, former special pontifical delegate for the institution, and Monsignor Luis Cuna-Ramos, prelate of the Order. Also present was Father Robert McCulloch, of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban, who serves as master of novices.
On the occasion of the opening, Leo XIV sent a letter to the members of the Order through Cardinal Ghirlanda. In it, according to the official note, the Pope describes the event as “a moment of particular importance” in the process of spiritual renewal of the Order. For his part, the Grand Master, Fra John Dunlap, thanked the Pontiff for his concern, his blessing and his attention to the institution, especially “at this difficult time for the Holy Father.”
Nearly a thousand years of history and a convent project in Rome
The Order of Malta, which was born nearly a thousand years ago with the approval of Pope Paschal II, has as its motto “Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum” (the defense of the faith and service to the poor). Based on Rome’s Via Condotti, it is a sovereign subject of international law and maintains diplomatic relations with 110 countries. Its mission consists in assisting the poor and the sick and bearing witness to the Christian faith.
The Order had also announced a project to convert an ancient Dominican monastery in Rome into its own convent and novitiate, so that the current house, housed in the Curia of the Fatebenefratelli, would not be the definitive seat for the formation of its novices.
InfoVaticana reported in April on the audience in which Leo XIV received Ghirlanda and the Grand Master of the Order. The Order’s communiqué on the opening of the novitiate can be consulted on its official website.