webfact Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Knights of Malta head resigns after dispute with Vatican By Philip Pullella REUTERS FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis (R) meets Robert Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta during a private audience at the Vatican June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Gabriel Bouys/Pool/File Photo VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The head of the Knights of Malta, who has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Vatican, has resigned, a spokesperson for the Rome-based Catholic chivalric and charity institution said on Wednesday. The spokesperson said Grand Master Matthew Festing, 67, had resigned after Pope Francis asked him to step down at a meeting on Tuesday. Grand masters of the institution, which was founded in the 11th century, usually keep their positions for life. "The pope asked him to resign and he agreed," the spokesperson said, adding that the next step was a formality in which the group's Sovereign Council would have to sign off on the highly unusual resignation. The order would be run by its number two, or grand commander, until a new head is elected. Festing and the Vatican have been locked in a bitter dispute since one of the order's top knights, Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, was sacked in December in the chivalric equivalent of a boardroom showdown - ostensibly because he allowed the use of condoms in a medical project for the poor. Von Boeselager appealed to the pope, who appointed a five-member commission to look into the unusual circumstances of the sacking, but Festing refused to cooperate and called the commission illegitimate. Festing's resignation was the latest twist in a battle of wills between the heads of two of the world's oldest institutions. Festing, a Briton, had denounced the papal commission as intervention in the order's sovereign affairs, accused members having a conflict of interest and defiantly set up his own internal commission. The Vatican, in turn, rejected what it said was an attempt to discredit members of the commission and ordered the leaders of the institution to cooperate with the inquiry. The papal commission was due to deliver its findings to the pope at the end of the month. The all-male top leaders of the Knights of Malta are not clerics, but they take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the pope. The institution has 13,500 members, 25,000 employees and 80,000 volunteers worldwide. The order, formed in the 11th century to provide protection and medical care for pilgrims to the Holy Land, has the status of a sovereign entity. It maintains diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union and permanent observer status at the United Nations. When Festing fired von Boeselager, he accused the German of hiding the fact that he allowed the use of condoms when he ran Malteser International, the order's humanitarian aid agency. Von Boeselager and his supporters say the condom issue was an excuse by Festing and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, an arch-conservative who has accused the pope of being too liberal, to increase their power. The church does not allow the use of condoms as a means of birth control and says abstinence and monogamy in heterosexual marriage is the best way to stop the spread of AIDS. Von Boeselager said he closed two projects in the developing world when he discovered condoms were being distributed but kept a third running for a while because closing it would have abruptly ended all basic medical services to poor people. Francis has said he wants the 1.2 billion-member church to avoid so-called "culture wars" over moral teachings and show mercy to those who cannot live by all its rules, especially the poor. (Reporting by Philip Pullella, editing by G Crosse and Cynthia Oserman) -- © Copyright Reuters 2017-01-25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotsak Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) These guys are still stuck back in the 11th century, me thinks. Edited January 25, 2017 by kotsak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinnock Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 All started to go downhill after the third Crusade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockman Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Read this book, if you want to know about dirty dealings. In Gods Name. By David Yallop! Stranger than fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkg Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Never make a Maltese Knight Cross ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halloween Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I believe the Vatican's position on birth control is based on verses in St Paul's Epistle to the Fallopians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piersbeckett Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 3 hours ago, halloween said: I believe the Vatican's position on birth control is based on verses in St Paul's Epistle to the Fallopians. I think you'll find it's, 'Epididimus to the Gonads Ch. 17 v.11'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerone Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 burn it down this vatican , biggest criminal association in the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emster23 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Makes one wish the pope's daddy had used one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAG Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 The son of Field Marshall Sir Francis Festing, who was a highly effective and well regarded (by his men) Corps Commander just up the road in Burma in 1944 / 1945. He went on to be Chief of the General Staff postwar. A notoriously scruffy officer, he was known as "the great unmade bed of the war office" Looking at the OP photograph it seems his son is following in his footsteps in at least one regard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilostmypassword Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 1 hour ago, Emster23 said: Makes one wish the pope's daddy had used one.... I think you mean Cardinal Burke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpoint Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 7 minutes ago, JAG said: The son of Field Marshall Sir Francis Festing, who was a highly effective and well regarded (by his men) Corps Commander just up the road in Burma in 1944 / 1945. He went on to be Chief of the General Staff postwar. A notoriously scruffy officer, he was known as "the great unmade bed of the war office" Looking at the OP photograph it seems his son is following in his footsteps in at least one regard... And he could have left his cat outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli42 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 5 hours ago, Emster23 said: Makes one wish the pope's daddy had used one.... What did the Pope do wrong ... fire a guy who cut off aid to the poor that also gave away free condoms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dick dasterdly Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 4 minutes ago, chilli42 said: What did the Pope do wrong ... fire a guy who cut off aid to the poor that also gave away free condoms? Do you honestly believe that the pope is god's representative on earth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dick dasterdly Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 (edited) 12 hours ago, Nerone said: burn it down this vatican , biggest criminal association in the world More accurately, the business that has managed to somehow retain power over so many, for the longest period of time'? Edited January 26, 2017 by dick dasterdly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB300 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 What did the Pope do wrong ... fire a guy who cut off aid to the poor that also gave away free condoms?Did I read it wrong, I thought Festing fired the guy who appealed to the pope for a commission to review the decision, Festing rejected the validity of the Papal Commission, butted heads & lost.So (in this instance) the Pope did nothing wrong (except not overturning the ban on contraceptives as soon as he was elected). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilostmypassword Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 46 minutes ago, chilli42 said: What did the Pope do wrong ... fire a guy who cut off aid to the poor that also gave away free condoms? 38 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said: Do you honestly believe that the pope is god's representative on earth? And your question has exactly what to do with chilli42's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baerboxer Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 3 hours ago, chilli42 said: What did the Pope do wrong ... fire a guy who cut off aid to the poor that also gave away free condoms? Just the usual gross hypocrisy from the Catholic Church mixed in with their usual politics about controlling the troughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baerboxer Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 2 hours ago, JB300 said: Did I read it wrong, I thought Festing fired the guy who appealed to the pope for a commission to review the decision, Festing rejected the validity of the Papal Commission, butted heads & lost. So (in this instance) the Pope did nothing wrong (except not overturning the ban on contraceptives as soon as he was elected). But the Catholic church bans the use of condoms. So Festing was sticking to official policy whereas the pope was saying that policy can be wavered if he thinks the reason is good enough. What else the German count who was fired had been up to, this is a Catholic organization, we'll never know. Why anybody gives this seedy, corrupt, evil organization the time of day is mystifying. The pope's probably off now to recognize some more miracles and create a few more saints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli42 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 On 1/26/2017 at 2:24 PM, dick dasterdly said: Do you honestly believe that the pope is god's representative on earth? What a strange post. You must be quoting some other poster. I made no mention of what the Pope is doing on earth in my post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli42 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 On 1/26/2017 at 5:32 PM, Baerboxer said: Just the usual gross hypocrisy from the Catholic Church mixed in with their usual politics about controlling the troughs. Ah, another social justice warrior. Good thing we have people like you looking after us. The world is a safer place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB300 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Ah, another social justice warrior. Good thing we have people like you looking after us. The world is a safer place.Even better, we have people like you praying for us so it's got to be right [emoji106] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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