One of the oldest charitable organisations in the world is the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, in short the Maltese Order. This knightly order is active all over the world, including Romania. The Order has sovereign status, similar to a modern state, and is represented at ambassadorial level, accredited to heads of state.
The seat of the Maltese Order is today in the Vatican. In Romania, the Order of Malta was present in the medieval period through a commandery that defended the Banat of Severin. In the modern period, the Order brought together personalities of the first rank. Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, was decorated by the Grand Master of the Order, as was His Royal Highness Prince Consort Radu of Romania. Both representatives of the Royal Family of Romania received the Pro Merito Melitensi.
In Romania, the Order of Malta is represented in three different ways. There is a Romanian Association of the Order of Malta, headed by Count Kálnoky Tibor, which brings together the Maltese knights living in the country.
There is the Order of Malta Relief Service in Romania, which is an organisation that gives solid expression to the charitable mission undertaken almost a millennium ago by the Order of Malta, under the motto “Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum”, i.e. “Defending the faith and helping those in need”.
The Order of Malta Relief Service in Romania has over 1,000 volunteers and 18 branches and subsidiaries. The service is run by two Maltese knights: Denes Mihály as President and Tischler Ferenc as Secretary General.
At diplomatic level, the Order is represented in Romania by an Embassy, headed by His Excellency Roberto Musneci, who is also a Maltese Knight. Ambassador Roberto Musneci was kind enough to grant us an interview.
Reporter: Your Excellency, Ambassador, you represent in Romania a venerable institution, a knightly order created during the Crusades. What were the needs that led to the creation of the Sovereign Order of Malta?
ES Roberto Musneci: The Order was founded by some merchants from Amalfi, in 1048, in Jerusalem. There, the Order established a hospital. Basically, we can talk about the recognition of the Order by the Holy Father Pope Paschal II in 1113.
Our Order remained in Jerusalem and played a marginal role in the First Crusade, together with the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights… All these knightly orders were founded between 1100 and 1200. After the loss of the Holy Land, the Ionian knights moved to the island of Rhodes, after a short stay in Cyprus. They remained on Rhodes until the 16th century, when the island was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The Knights of St John then moved to Malta, where they were given responsibility for managing the archipelago.
Reporter: The heroism of the Hospitaller Knights or Ionianites of Rhodes has become legend. There are numerous chronicles showing how they resisted the Muslim invasion…
ES Roberto Musneci: That’s correct, there are details that also refer to their resistance in Malta in 1565, when the Ionian knights played a very important military role. At that time, the Order of St. John had the largest Christian fleet in the southern Mediterranean and protected Europe.
Beyond the Crusades, they were also involved in political developments even in central Europe. There are many accounts of military heroism, but we must not forget that it was founded as a hospitable order. For the first 500 years, we were known only as the Knights Hospitaller, then the name Knights of Malta became more widespread.
Reporter: On the present territory of Romania, there was a commandery in the Banat of Severin, attested as such from 2 June 1247…
ES Roberto Musneci: The Order had both a military and a hospitable role. This order has always distinguished itself when faced with Islamic pressure.
Reporter: There are also accounts of the role played by the Order in protecting Christian ships faced with pirate threats in North Africa…
ES Roberto Musneci: This is accurate. There were also alliances with European kings. The Order was also involved in local events. The Hospitaller Knights remained in Malta until Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the island. After a short period in Russia, the Order settled in Rome in 1834. From here, the Order of Malta’s worldwide presence is managed. There are diplomatic relations with more than 130 countries, including embassies and other diplomatic structures. Today, hospitality is very much in evidence. In the last 200 years, there has been no military activity as such. And in Romania, we have an association of Maltese knights, for and the Order of Malta Relief Service in Romania, which carries out social inclusion and medical assistance activities, including in support of Ukrainian refugees.
