Appendix

Baron Marcello Maria Marrocco Trischitta prematurely deceased on February 29, 1996. On January 22, 1998 the reform of the Constitutional Charter and Code, approved by the Holy See with note of the Congregation of November 7, 1997, came into effect preceding the second edition of this book. The English version has been kindly revised by the Author's wife, Baroness Paola Marrocco Trischitta, Dame of Honour and Devotion, who thought it useful to integrate the text with the following appendix.


he renewal of the Order, desired by H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master in view of the third millennium, has gone ahead through very delicate actions both on international and internal level.

The admission of the Order to the United Nations has increased the number of its bilateral relations with other states up to 83. The National Associations are now 42 but what is most amazing is the multiplication of the international missions of the Order in the humanitarian field.

Valletta, Malta. Signing the new agreement between the Order and the Republic of Malta on Fort St. Angelo.

In the triennium 1996-1998 the Order was massively present during the conflicts in Eastern Europe and, through the Italian Association, it was particularly active in Mostar. The German Association provided humanitarian aid to the populations escaping from the war zones of Iraq and Zaire and is currently in the front line helping Kosovo refugees through its various voluntary bodies.

The relief corps have increased and on the occasion of the state visit of the Grand Master to Cuba, the Order delivered medicines and medical equipment valued at 8 million US dollars to the Cuban Caritas. The combined efforts of the Grand Chancellor, Count Carlo Marullo di Condojanni, and the Grand Hospitaller, Baron Albrecht von Boeselager, have also enabled the Order to achieve delicate goals in Eastern Europe and in Latin America, where funds for the blind have been allocated. An agreement has been recently reached with the São Paulo University for the rescarch in the ophthalmic sector. In Guinea as well a project for the treatment of Oncocerciasis is being carried out in collaboration with the Spanish Association. Also the Bethlehem Hospital, which is the pride of the Order, has been enlarged and modernised.

Albania, May 1999: The Order of Malta's Flag flies over a field hospital set up by its international bodies. (Reuters News Pictures)

A museum has been created in Rhodes and in 1998 two great cultural events took place in Italy: the former was an exhibition on Piranesi's works set up at our extraterritorial seat on the Aventine and visited by over 43,000 persons; the latter was a very delicate restoration of the inside and outside of the Grand Priory Palace in Venice. These events are a clear demonstration of the renewed interest of the Order in the cultural aspects of its history and this is certainly due to the economic resources that, for the first time in the last ten years, have enabled the Order to make more investments for the safeguard of its patrimony.

As far as the internal policy of the Order is concerned, the extraordinary Chapter General approved the new Constitutional Charter which came into force on January 27,1998. This event represents an epochal turning point in the life of the Order: the relations with the Holy See have been revised, in particular expressly referring to international law for the Order's diplomatic representation; specifying that also members of the First and Second Class, who profess Vows and the Promise of Obedience respectively, are subordinate only to their Superiors in the Order; attributing to the Grand Master the confirmation of the election of Knights in Obedience to government positions. Thus, on a legal level, there is no longer any kind of dependence on the Holy See, with a strong emphasis on the already existing sovereign character of the Order's activities on the international scene.

On a level of internal constitutional organisation, Magistral Knights and Dames can now be admitted to the Class of Obedience, the category of female Donats has been created and different criteria for the recognition of a new kind of nobility are under study.

The jubilee Year, celebrating the Order's nine centuries of life, was opened in Malta on December 5,1998 under the guidance of the Grand Chancellor, expressly entrusted by the Grand Master with the co-ordination of the celebrations. On that occasion, a new agreement on Fort St. Angelo was reached with the Maltese government, the ratification of which is being concluded, extending the concession to 99 years with the enjoyment of extraterritoriality and other privileges, including the possibility to keep in the Fort a small uniformed corps to perform guard and security services. The flag of the Order is already waving on this monument, which is the most significant evidence of the Knights' presence on the Island.

Other numerous institutional changes are in progress and in order to understand and appreciate their importance it will be necessary to wait for the future decisions of the institutional bodies renewed during the Chapter General held on June 22-23,1999.