On Feast of John the Baptist, Pope Leo XIV meets with the Order of Malta thanking them for their witness

 

Pope Leo XIV received Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra' John Dunlap, on 23 June 2025, in the Vatican  (ANSA)

Pope

• Pope Leo XIV
• Order of Malta
• love
• charity
• faith

Pope Leo to Order of Malta: Thank you for bearing witness to God's love

On the occasion of the Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist, Pope Leo XIV expresses his gratitude to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for their concrete witness to God's love and underscores the need to foster prayer and appropriate formation.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"The Church thanks you for all the good you accomplish wherever love is needed, often in very difficult situations. She also thanks you for the path of renewal which you have been pursuing for some years now, aimed at a greater fidelity to the Gospel..." Pope Leo XIV told Members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in a message he addressed to them on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Order's Patron, Saint John the Baptist. At the same time, he encouraged them, "Continue in this direction!"

In the text, the Holy Father urged the Order's members to let Saint John the Baptist, their heavenly Patron, illuminate their lives and mission.

Pope Leo recalled that the Order has as its aim “tuitio fidei”, the defense of the faith; and “obsequium pauperum”, the service of the poor, observing, "These are two aspects of one and the same charism: a faith that is propagated and safeguarded through loving dedication to the poor, the marginalized, to all those in need of support and help."

Proclaiming love of God

"It is not enough," the Pope stressed, "to merely assist the needs of the poor." Rather, he insisted, "one must proclaim to them the love of God, both in word and in witness." If this is lacking, he said, the Order would lose its religious character and be reduced to a philanthropic organization.

The Pope called on each to offer love to others and accordingly, "to concretely transmit faith in the God who is love, offering the experience of His nearness."

He told them to protect and preserve the faith with the Apostle Paul's advice on how to arm ourselves, namely, "to put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Worldliness

Certainly, for the many praiseworthy works the Order accomplishes throughout the world, Pope Leo acknowledged, many means, including financial ones, and various intermediaries, are needed. "But" he underscored, "it is always necessary to keep the means in their proper place, as instruments at the service of the goal."

Since achieving good ends requires good means, the Pope said, one must avoid temptations that "can easily appear under the guise of good, giving the illusion that noble goals may be pursued with means that may ultimately prove contrary to God’s will."

"We must constantly make our own the teaching of Jesus," Pope Leo said, "who did not ask the Father to take us out of the world, since He sends us into the world, but who reminded us that we are not of the world, as He is not of the world..."

Journey of renewal

Recalling their ongoing journey of renewal, Pope Leo reminded them, "it cannot be merely institutional or normative," but "must be, above all, interior and spiritual, for this gives meaning to the changes in your rules."

This path of conversion, "even if difficult and demanding," the Pope reassured them, is sustained by the grace of the Risen Spirit.

Fostering prayer

The Holy Father also pointed to formation as "a fundamental aspect of all institutes of consecrated life," and "is particularly demanding due to the complexity of candidates’ life experiences today." This makes a specific formation for formators more necessary than ever, he said, stressing that without it, they remain superficial and ineffective.

Formation, he stressed, "must aim, above all, at fostering prayer: both liturgical and personal, nourished by solitude and silence—dimensions all the more necessary when one is dedicated to serving others, so that such service may become a testimony to the love of God who makes Himself present."

Finally, Pope Leo called it "a great source of hope" that some Professed members wish to begin an experience of community life, adding, "I heartily encourage this desire, for community life is a concrete way of being formed in mutual charity."

In Detroit, finding a way to reach out to the peripheries

 

New van will help Order of Malta reach Detroit's peripheries with food, kindness

Newly blessed vehicle will deliver clothing, sandwiches to the homeless, transport guests to Malta Dental and Medical Clinic

BIRMINGHAM — Three days a week, men, women and children who can’t get enough to eat make their way to the All Saints Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry on Detroit’s west side, which serves hot meals and offers groceries to those who otherwise can’t afford them.

Some of those families can’t afford medical or dental insurance, either, and many are in dire need of care — often having put off treatment for far too long.

The Malta Dental and Medical and Clinic, a free clinic that’s served low-income Detroiters’ needs since 2004, seeks to address this need, offering vital services free of charge to those without insurance.

The only problem? The soup kitchen is six miles away from the clinic, which operates out of Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan’s Center for the Works of Mercy in Detroit’s Midtown. And if you can't afford food, you likely can't afford a car, either.

To bridge that gap, the local Order of Malta is enlisting the help of a new cargo van, courtesy of Malta Mobile Ministries, which will help transport guests to and from the clinic, as well as serve a host of other needs as the order steps up its efforts to aid Detroiters.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron blessed the new van Aug. 14, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, during a “Lourdes Experience” gathering of the Order of Malta at Holy Name Parish in Birmingham.

“Like Our Lady, we too have the vocation to carry Christ to other people,” Archbishop Vigneron, a member of the Order of Malta, said during a homily prior to the blessing. “(The analogy) is a little far-fetched, but the van is a little like an Ark of the Covenant. It is a way to carry the compassion of Christ to other people. And the foundation of this is faith.”

Attending the Mass and blessing were Peter Kelly, president of the Order of Malta’s American Association, and Deacon Jeffrey Trexler, the American Association’s executive director.

Malta Mobile Ministries is a separate nonprofit that collaborates with the Order of Malta’s three U.S. associations, said Deacon Trexler, speaking to Detroit Catholic after the blessing. The order’s Western Association began the program several years ago with a fleet of vehicles serving parishes, food pantries and bringing medical and first-aid services to disaster victims, including serving those displaced by the California wildfires.

Three years ago, the Order of Malta’s American Association, which includes Michigan, joined the program with its first van operating in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. A second van was soon added in New Jersey.

“This is our third van,” Deacon Trexler told Detroit Catholic. “Hopefully by next year, we’ll have maybe three more vans on board for different areas of the United States. We have 30 chapters (in the American Association), and they all seem to be interested in this. Hopefully in the next five years, we’ll have a fleet of 30.”

Tom Larabell, president of the Malta Dental and Medical Clinic, said the van will serve a great need in the city of Detroit, transporting low-income residents to and from the clinic, as well as serving other local ministries.

The van will also be used to deliver sandwiches, clothing and boots to the homeless living on Detroit’s streets through the Order of Malta’s “Into the Fire” ministry, which began about 10 years ago through St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen, Larabell said.

"We've got a very active chapter, so our American Association asked us if we would do this," Larabell said. "Our first thought was to pick people up who can't come to the clinic, and we have another ministry, 'Into the Fire,' where we make sandwiches and deliver them on the street, along with clothing in the wintertime."

The van has been retrofitted with shelving, clothing racks and supplies to help the ministry serve in a variety of circumstances. Larabell added the van won’t just serve those living on the streets, but anyone living in the city of Detroit who needs help.

“Recently, we went to visit the Missionaries of Charity sisters on Detroit’s southwest side, and I told the nuns we were looking for places where people hang out,” Larabell said. “We told them we have the medical and dental clinic, and that we only treat people who have no insurance and no money. One of the nuns answered and said, ‘Well, we don’t have insurance. We don’t have money.’ So we’ve even transported the nuns to their appointments.”

Larabell said the Malta Dental and Medical Clinic is working on a service schedule for the van, which has already begun to serve Detroit residents.

In addition to serving those in need, the van — emblazoned with the Order of Malta’s red shield — will help Detroiters more readily recognize the order, which serves many different ministries in the Archdiocese of Detroit, Deacon Trexler said.

“The order isn’t as familiar to people in the United States as it is in Europe,” said Deacon Trexler, who serves in the Diocese of Allentown, Pa. “In Europe, we have hospitals and multiple clinics, orphanages, nursing homes and ambulance services in communities that have nothing. So this is good PR for the order.”

Locally, in addition to the Malta Dental and Medical Clinic and the “Into the Fire” ministry, the order also operates or serves at St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen in Detroit; Angels’ Place, a home for developmentally disabled individuals in Southfield; Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, a local pro-life apostolate; Mary’s Children Family Center in Clawson, which serves those with brain injuries; and the Rose Hill Center in Holly, a comprehensive psychiatric treatment program for adults with serious mental illnesses.

The order each year also sponsors a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, bringing Detroit-area malades — the French word for sick person — to the healing shrines of Our Lady of Lourdes.

“So this van is letting people know that the order exists and we’re here to serve,” Deacon Trexler said. “It’s the charism of our order: to defend the faith and to care for those in need.”

Pope Francis meets with the Order of Malta

 

Pope Francis meets with members of the Order of Malta  (Vatican Media)

POPE

Pope to Order of Malta: Go forth in your mission while remaining faithful to Christ

Pope Francis addresses the Sovereign Order of Malta at the conclusion of their General Chapter and encourages them to go forth in their mission after the election of new High Offices, whilst remaining always faithful to Christ.

By Francesca Merlo

Addressing members of the Order of Malta at the conclusion of their General Chapter, Pope Francis greeted the new High Officers and members of the Council, who had been elected at the meeting. "From here you resume with renewed impetus your commitment to tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum ["defence of the faith and assistance to the poor"], giving freely what you have freely received and testifying that following Christ in the service of the poor and the sick is a path that fills the soul", said the Pope. 

The Pope expressed his pleasure in hearing that those who had been appointed to the provisional government had then "found the confidence of the great majority of the Chapter members". With these, the Pope continued, you may now be "ever more united to bear witness to your faith and your belonging to the Order"

The issue of re-establishment

In the Chapter preceding the General Chapter, the Pope noted that in response to his invitation and to what was established in the Constitutional Charter and in the Melitense Code, "you addressed the issue of the re-establishment, according to the original inspiration, of community life and the full observance of the solemn vow of poverty".  The Pope expressed his appreciation for the decision to reopen a novitiate and added his hope that "more can be added soon". To keep so many meritorious works alive, the Pope continued, "it is necessary to pray that the Lord will send "good labourers", raising vocations in every class, especially to religious profession, which lives and expresses the Johannite vocation to the full."

Pope Francis then went on to speak briefly of the terms that qualify the Order. 

Sovereign

Beginning with the term "sovereign", Pope Francis noted that "this is a very singular sovereignty, assumed over the centuries and confirmed by the will of the Popes. It allows you to make generous and demanding gestures of solidarity, making yourselves close to those most in need, under international diplomatic legal protection". 

Military

Pope Francis then went on to speak of the word "military". "For the defence of pilgrims and holy places, as well as Christianity, your Order has written glorious pages. Today, those deeds give way to interreligious dialogue. Moreover, faith in Christ and the following of Him commit you to the witness of the Gospel and the fight against everything that opposes it", he explained. 

Hospitaller

Finally, the Pope spoke of the term "Hospitaller".

"The Order originates from the service that Blessed Gerard offered to pilgrims in Jerusalem, in the Hospital named after St John the Baptist, who later became your Patron", said the Pope. He noted that there, Gerard, with the first friars, welcomed pilgrims and the needy, providing them with the medical care they required, "and this can be seen today in the plurality of your works", he added. "By caring for the sick, you know how to recognise in each of them the suffering face of Christ, whatever their origin, nationality or religious belief", explained the Pope. 

Bringing his address to a close, Pope Francis noted that the members present "have written a very important page of history for the Order of Malta", and that for this, "you can be proud."

Finally, Pope Francis exhorted all those present to remain faithful to Christ "and to go forward, carrying throughout the world His message of healing for the sick and consolation for the afflicted".