Knights of Malta warn Vatican reforms risk their sovereignty

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — The Knights of Malta, an ancient Catholic order, are warning that the Vatican’s proposals for reforming the order risk its internationally recognized status as a soverign state. The Knights’ grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, wrote a letter to the Knights’ members saying the Vatican proposals contradict assurances he had been given that Pope Francis doesn’t want to put the order’s sovereignty at risk. That sovereign status allows the Knights to have diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries, which facilitates the delivery of humanitarian aid in conflict areas. The order experienced a governance crisis in 2016-2017 sparked by a condom distribution scandal that resulted in Francis ousting the then-grand master and imposing years of Vatican-mandated reforms.