Cardinal Burke asked chancellor of Knights of Malta to resign, order’s interim leader says

February 16, 2017

The new acting head of the Knights of Malta has said that it was Cardinal Burke, not the order’s ousted grand master, who asked for the resignation of the chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager.

Ludwig Hoffman von Rumerstein, who will lead the Knights of Malta until a new grand master is elected, said that he was present at a December 6 meeting when Cardinal Burke asked for Boeselager’s resignation. Previous accounts have indicated that Fra’ Matthew Festing, who was then the head of the order, asked for the chancellor’s resignation and then ordered him to resign. As patron of the Knights of Malta, Cardinal Burke would have held the authority to suggest a resignation, but not to require it.

Hoffman von Rumerstein said that reforms in the Knights of Malta, to be carried out at the behest of Pope Francis, would include changes in the way the grand master is selected, and an age limit at which the leader of the order would be expected to resign. The Vatican had announced that a special papal legate would be responsible solely for the spiritual renewal of the order.

 

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Further information:

• Knights of Malta chief says it was Burke who asked official to resign (Crux)
• Knights of Malta accept Pope’s intervention (CWN, 1/30)