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25 February 2019Order of Malta Will Participate in the Development of the Route

On 19 February, 2019, the Head of the Mission of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Russian Federation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Gianfranco Facco Bonetti, and the head of the Association „Holy Places of Undivided Christianity”, Miguel Palacio, signed a Memorandum on Cooperation at the office of the diplomatic mission.

Miguel Palacio and Gianfranco Facco Bonetti agreed that with the participation of the Moscow Mission of the world’s oldest knight order two new routes should be prepared – Italy’s holy places of common Christian roots and Europe’s pilgrimage sites which are venerated by different faiths and are linked to the Order of Malta.

 

About the Order of Malta:

The Order of Malta (officially, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta; the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospitaller of Saint John, of Rhodes and of Malta; the Sovereign Military Order of Knights Hospitaller of Saint John, of Rhodes and of Malta) is one of the religious knight orders of the Roman Catholic Church.

Under international law, the Order of Malta is a state entity and the Order presents itself as a state. The sovereignty of the Order of Malta is recognized at the level of diplomatic missions.

The Order of Malta enjoys the observer status with the United Nations and the Council of Europe. It maintains diplomatic relations with 107 countries.

The Order of Malta issues its own passports, currency and postage stamps. It has postal agreements with some 70-80 countries.

Established in 1099, the Order was to protect and assist pilgrims who came to the Holy Land. To date, the Order of Malta has focused its activities on charity and pilgrimage.

The Order’s history is closely connected with Russia: in 1789, after Napoleon captured Malta and drove the Order from there, Russian Emperor Paul I invited the knights to settle in Saint Petersburg. The Knights Hospitaller elected Paul I their Grand Master. An Orthodox priory of the Order was created and the eight-pointed Maltese cross became one of the official symbols of the Russian Empire. The Order of Malta has been grateful to Russia for its rescue up to the present day.

25 February 2019

 

Tags: • святыня   • храм   • христианство   • christianity   • cultural routes   • routes   • holy places   • orthodox   • church   • the sovereign military order of malta   • мальтийский орден
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