(Rivista Internazionale - December 1999: CELEBRATIONS FOR THE ORDER'S NINTH CENTENARY- 1/1)

CELEBRATIONS FOR THEORDER’S NINTH CENTENARY

Jubilee Pilgrimages
to Santiago de Compostela

During the Compostelan Jubilee Year, coinciding with the celebrations of the nonacentenary of the Order, H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, took part in two pilgrimages of the Order to the Santiago de Compostela Sanctuary.

The first pilgrimage, organised by the Spanish Ambassador to the Order, Carlos Abella y Ramallo, took place from 28 to 30 May with the Grand Chancellor, Count Don Carlo Marullo di Condojanni, the Vice Chancellor, Amb. Comm. Fra’ José Antonio Linati Bosch, and the Order’s Ambassadors to the Latin American countries. The Prince and Grand Master, with his retinue, attended the Pontifical Mass concelebrated on 29 May in the Santiago Cathedral by the Cardinalis Patronus, His Eminence Pio Laghi, and by the Archbishop of Santiago, H.E. Julián Barrio Barrio. The previous day, during his official visit to the Chairman of the Galizia Regional Council, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, His Most Eminent Highness received the Gold Medal of Galizia, and conferred on the Chairman the Order’s Grand Cross of Merit.

From 24 to 26 September, the Prince and Grand Master participated in the Jubilee Compostelan Pilgrimage organised by the Spanish Assembly, with the Ven. Bailiff Fra’ Carl Paar, Comm. Fra’ John Edward Critien, the President of the Assembly, H.E. Don Luis Guillermo de Perinat, Marchese di Campo Real, and the Order’s Ambassador, Conte Ferdinand Orssich de Slavetich. During his time in Santiago, the Prince and Grand Master made an official visit to the Chairman of the Galizia Regional Council, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, and took part in the closing ceremony of the First International Seminar "The Order of Malta, its history and social topicality" organised by the Spanish Assembly, the Order’s Complutense Institute and the "Estudio Gallegos Padre Sarniento" Institute.

The Pilgrimage concluded with high mass celebrated in the sanctuary, during which His Most Eminent Highness participated in the traditional ceremony of the "ofrenda", and with a visit to Padrón, housing the stone to which the ship bearing the body of St. James was anchored.

Spain. Santiago de Compostela. H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, with H.E. the Grand Chancellor, Amb. Count Don Carlo Marullo di Condojanni, during the meeting with the President of the Galicia Council, Manuel Fraga Iribarne.