Your gift counts double until 5/31: $23,238 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Knights of Malta prepare for 900th anniversary celebration

CWN - February 08, 2013

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta will celebrate its 900th anniversary on February 9 with a procession to the tomb of St. Peter and a Mass in the Vatican basilica.

Members of the Knights of Malta will meet with Pope Benedict XVI after the Mass. The military order, formally recognized by Pope Paschal II in 1113, is one of only two such orders officially recognized by the Holy See (the other is the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre).

An AP interview with Grand Master Matthew Festing, the head of the Order of Malta, explores the unique status of the order, which enjoys legal sovereignty although it owns no geographical territory, and is today dedicated to works of charity on a worldwide scale.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($23,238 to go):
$80,000.00 $56,762.50
29% 71%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Fr. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly: Your Letter May Help 2 hours ago
The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church 21 hours ago
The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church May 23
The sad decline of self-government May 22
That impromptu exorcism again May 22

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8