Spirituality of the Order

The Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of Jerusalem were recognised as a religious order by Pope Paschal II in 1113. As a religious order they are linked to the Holy See, while at the same time acting as an independent subject of international law.

In this respect the religious character of the Order coexists with its full sovereignty. The Grand Master is the head of a sovereign entity and at the same time the highest superior of the religious community of the Order. In this second role the Roman Catholic Church accords him the rank of Cardinal.

Under canon law the Order of Malta is a lay religious order. Some of its members are religious (professed knights) who have taken the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. A second group has made a promise of obedience (knights in obedience), while most knights and dames are lay members. The Grand Master is elected from among the professed knights in perpetual vows. The eight points of the Maltese cross symbolise the eight Beatitudes and so point clearly to the spiritual mission of the Order. Under the Constitution, members of the Order are bound to lead an exemplary Christian life in private and in public, so as to keep alive the heritage and traditions of the Order of Malta.

Under the Constitution the Pope appoints a Cardinal as his representative to the Order. He bears the title of Cardinal Patronus; his task is to care for the spiritual life of the Order and its members and for its relations with the Holy See. The Pope also appoints the Prelate of the Order, choosing him from three candidates proposed by the Grand Master.

The Prelate is the religious superior of the Order's chaplains. The Order remains faithful to its essential mission: defending the faith and serving the suffering. Its members share the same vocation and work together for solidarity, justice and peace, on the basis of the teaching of the Gospel and in the closest union with the Holy See. They are engaged in active and dynamic charitable work sustained by prayer. No one becomes a knight or a dame by privilege of birth or by merit, but by answering an inner call to serve wherever there is material or moral need, wherever there is suffering.

Wherever the Hospitaller knights settled, they first built a hospital and a hostel for pilgrims, and only then, when it was necessary, fortifications. What does it mean to be a Hospitaller in the third millennium? It means giving oneself to relieving suffering and bringing the balm of Christian love and help to the sick anywhere in the world, not only in hospitals but also in their homes, in care homes and in shelters for the homeless. The Order devotes itself not only to the sick but also to the socially isolated, to victims of persecution and to refugees, regardless of race or creed.