A royal evening

He couldn’t imagine any other Catholic cathedral in the world, according to Fra’ Matthew Festing, that has been rebuilt so often.

Festing, the English prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, was referring to the Manila Cathedral, which since its establishment in 1571 by Mexican priest Juan de Vivero has been destroyed by fire, at least three powerful earthquakes and Allied bombardment in World War II, but always rebuilt.

This, Festing told guests at a dinner reception the other night, was “a great tribute to the immense resilience of the people of the Philippines.”

Yesterday Festing saw first-hand that resilience in Basey, Samar, where the Order of Malta handed over 350 new houses to typhoon victims, with about 350 more to be turned over soon. It was just the latest installment in its sustained assistance to victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda, after donations of tons of rice, canned goods, toothbrushes and soap bars, blankets, rubber boots and gloves, water canisters, seeds, 50 large capacity tents, and electricians’ equipment.

The local chapter of the order has provided assistance to disaster victims in the Philippines for many years. It spends from P150 million to P360 million a year for a medical distribution program in partnership with Americares Foundation.

“Its mission has always been to help the sick and the poor,” Eugenio Ajroldi di Robbiate, the order’s director of communications, told me.

Being a hospitaller, the order also operates a health center everywhere in the 120 countries where it has activities, including eight hospitals in Germany and a medical relief center in its seat of government, at the Magistral Palace along Rome’s Via Condotti.

“Part of our work is to teach the local population what to do in case of an emergency,” Robbiate explained. They conduct workshops and provide experts to develop local leaders in disaster management and take care of the disabled.

Not all of the operations are charity. The order must generate its own income so the hospitals in Germany, for example, have both charity and pay wards.

“Our goal is not to earn money per se but only to use that money where money is needed. We don’t have a political agenda, we don’t have an economic agenda,” Robbiate told me.

They also operate without fanfare. “We don’t run for news,” he said.

This is probably why Festing’s visit – coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties with the Philippines and the first by the order’s head of state since 1979 – has been marked by a lot of confusion.

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It’s “basically a Catholic religious order,” not the government of Malta, Robbiate explained to me. And it’s not based in the tiny island republic in southern Europe, although the order uses Fort St. Angelo in Malta. 

But the Order of Malta has sovereign status and has its own flag. It issues its own visas and is a UN observer. Festing is its head of state, elected for life, with the rank of cardinal in the Catholic Church, and has official international recognition as royalty.

Founded in Jerusalem in 1048, the order currently counts 13,500 knights and dames worldwide committed to the defense of the Catholic faith and service to the poor and the sick.

It started out as a military order to protect pilgrims and the sick going to the Holy Land, but now it has kept only the military traditions. The order has produced seven saints and 11 have been beatified, with Festing’s late predecessor Andrew Bertie the latest candidate.

The order thinks the start of our diplomatic ties could date back to 1521, noting that Ferdinand Magellan’s chronicler Antonio Pigafetta was a Knight of Rhodes who reported to the Grand Master of Rhodes, Lord Philip de Villiers Lisleaden.

At the dinner the other night at the Manila Polo Club, waiters must have been instructed to address any Caucasian visitor in a suit as “your highness” to avoid offending any guest.

The complete honorific is “His Most Eminent Highness” and it is accorded to only one member of the order: Festing, an art expert with a Maltese ancestor martyred in 1539.

Few people are aware of this, so Robbiate, my seatmate at the table, was addressed as “your highness” once. I asked him if I should address him in the same way. Definitely not, he chuckled. Also at our table was Festing’s aide-de-camp John Straker, who was addressed twice as “your highness.”

Julian Vassalo, seated with his wife at another table, was addressed as “your highness” about five times. He’s no member of the order but the political counselor of the Philippine diplomatic mission of the European Union. The EU contributes a hefty 40 million euros a year, regularly audited, to the Order of Malta. Vassalo and his wife were the only Maltese citizens at the dinner.

The royal titles and honorifics were just among the sources of confusion during Festing’s official visit. His 11-member delegation includes two other princes, two barons and a count, and not all the royals merit the honorific “your excellency.”

Robbiate, an Italian, happens to be a baron, but he’s no “excellency.” Neither is Straker – just call him “mister” – who like Festing is British.

Straker chatted in fluent French with His Excellency Count Thierry de Beaumont-Beynac, president of Malteser International, the order’s humanitarian arm.

Malteser International is based in Cologne, Germany, which has no diplomatic ties with the order. German Ambassador Thomas Ossowski, a guest at the dinner, told me his government is working to join the 105 countries that have diplomatic ties with the Order of Malta.

The order, which ruled Malta from 1530 to 1798, has been based in Rome since 1834, after its knights were driven out of Malta by France’s Napoleon Bonaparte. Membership is by invitation only, and the order’s ambassador to Manila is Filipina Odelia Gregorio Arroyo.

Festing is one of only 70 members who are classified as religious under Canon Law and with the title “fra’ ” – brother or knight – individuals who have taken the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Robbiate is married so he’s no fra’. Neither is Straker.

While the confusion may be amusing, the Order of Malta is engaged in serious humanitarian work. And its sustained commitment to assist Philippine disaster victims is much appreciated – a reaffirmation of its long record of Christian compassion.