SW News:

Canada-born Fra John Dunlap has been elected the new Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta on Wednesday, May 3. This brings the series of internal reforms started by Pope Francis in the centuries-old order to a conclusion. 

Fra Dunlap was elected by an absolute majority of the Council Complete of State. After being elected he communicated the same to the Holy Father in a letter before assuming office. The new Grand Master, who is a lawyer by profession, was elected by 99 voting members from around the globe. They are first-class knights who take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 

The new Grand Master will serve for a ten-year term, unlike previous heads of the order who hailed from noble families and served for life. On Wednesday, he said that he was accepting the election in a “profound spirit of service and with a solemn promise of a constant commitment,” in a statement. 

Fra Dunlap had served as the order’s ad interim head after the pope appointed him as Lieutenant of the Grand Master in 2022 after the demise of Grand Master Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto in 2020 and that of former Lieutenant of the Grand Master Fra Marco Luzzago in June last year. 
After the installation of Fra Dunlap as the Lieutenant of the Grand Master, the pope also promulgated a new constitution with sweeping reforms. It replaced the four most senior serving officers in the internal governance as well as the membership of its Sovereign Council. 

Officially known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, the order is the oldest institution in the West and it counts more than 1000 members. The order is a sovereign entity with diplomatic status. It maintains diplomatic ties with 100 nations around the world.