Pope Leo XIV Tells Order of Malta Not to Limit "oneself to helping the needs of the poor, but announcing to them the love of God with words and testimony" FULL TEXT
Pope Leo XIV told Members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in a message he addressed to them on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Order's Patron, Saint John the Baptist.
Pope Leo noted that the Order has as its aim “tuitio fidei”, the defense of the faith; and “obsequium pauperum”, the service of the poor.
FULL TEXT MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA
ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION
OF THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
_______
I am particularly pleased to address this message to you on the occasion of the celebration of the solemnity of Saint John the Baptist, Protector of your religious Order, which bears his name.
The Church thanks you for all the good you do where love is needed, in sometimes very difficult situations. It also thanks you for the commitment to renewal that you have been carrying forward for some years, for greater fidelity to the Gospel, in close and cordial collaboration with the Cardinal Patron, reconfirmed by me in his office. Continue in this direction!
We can say that Saint John the Baptist, even before his birth, fulfilled the mission received from God to be a herald of Jesus. He did so with radical austerity throughout his life. His idea of the Messiah at the beginning was still too tied to that of a rigorous judge (see Mt 3:7-12). Jesus helps him to change perspective, to convert, first of all when he presents himself to him asking to be baptized, humbly mixed in with many penitents (see Mt 3:13-17). After this manifestation, John points to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (see Jn 1 :29.36). Following his invitation, two of his disciples become disciples of Jesus (see Jn 1:37). And the Baptist, giving his life in the affirmation of the truth, will become a witness of Jesus, who is the Truth.
Saint John the Baptist, your heavenly Protector, must illuminate your life and the mission that you are called to fulfill in the Church through the action of the Holy Spirit.
Your Order has as its purpose the tuitio fidei and the obsequium pauperum . Two aspects of a single charism: the faith that is propagated and protected in loving dedication to the poor, the marginalized, all those who need the support and help of others. Not limiting oneself to helping the needs of the poor, but announcing to them the love of God with words and testimony. If this were to be lacking, the Order would lose its religious character and would be reduced to being an organization with philanthropic purposes.
The love that each of us must offer to others is that which places itself at the level of those who receive it, just as Jesus did, who placed himself at our level, in solidarity with those who are despised, with those whose lives are taken because they are considered of no value (see Luke 10:29-37). Therefore, Jesus can receive a response of love from us, because in this lowering of himself he communicates his love to us, which we can return to him in gratitude. So it is with the poor. If we love him by placing ourselves at his level, the love we communicate to him returns to us in his gratitude, made not of humiliation, but of joy.
This is the tuitio fidei , because by doing so you concretely transmit faith in God's love, offering the experience of his closeness.
To protect and preserve the faith, the apostle Paul shows us how to equip ourselves: put on the armor of God to resist the snares of the devil; gird your loins with truth; put on the breastplate of righteousness; take hold of the shield of faith, with which to extinguish the flaming arrows of the Evil One; take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (see Eph 6:11-18).
Certainly for so many praiseworthy works of good that your Order carries out in various parts of the world, you need many means, including economic ones, and many mediations. But you must always be careful to consider the means only as such, functional to the achievement of the purpose.
However, to achieve a good goal the means must be good; but in this field temptation can easily present itself under the guise of good, as an illusion of being able to achieve the good goals that one sets for oneself with means that could later prove not to be in conformity with the will of God. Even Jesus was tempted in this, when the evil one "showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory" ( Mt 4:8) and promised to give them to him if he worshipped him. But then Jesus would no longer be the suffering Servant of God, who in humility strips himself of all worldly power to conquer, with love, the love of man. Jesus reaffirms, even in this particularly subtle temptation, the supremacy of God and does not sell himself to the power of this world. If he had consented to the temptation, Jesus would have adopted illicit means and would not have achieved the end set by the Father for his mission. Over the course of its history, the Order of Malta has adopted different means depending on the circumstances, which however must be assessed in terms of their current validity in order to achieve the aim of tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum .
Over the centuries, the Order has assumed an ever greater importance in the international arena, a very particular type of sovereignty, with prerogatives in this area that must necessarily be functional to the purpose of tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum . If you were to use these prerogatives by allowing yourselves to be attracted to worldliness, perhaps without realizing it, precisely because of the illusion that worldliness entails, you would run the risk of acting while losing sight of the purpose. We must continually make our own what Jesus taught, who did not ask the Father to take us out of the world, because He sends us into the world, but that we are not of the world as He is not of the world; and He asked the Father to protect us from the evil one (see John 17:14-16.18).
The Spirit reveals the deceptions of the evil one, so we are called to continually discern whether the Spirit or the evil one or in any case our own interest is leading us.
You are engaged in a path of renewal. Renewal cannot be simply institutional, normative: it must first of all be interior, spiritual, because this gives meaning to changes in the rules. You have renewed your own law, the Constitutional Charter and the Melitense Code. This was necessary, as various things had to be clarified, especially the nature of a religious Order, given and guaranteed by the members of the First Class, but whose charismatic force is also shared by the Second and Third Classes with a different gradualness.
You have also completed the work of the "Commentary" on both normative texts. A work that is more useful than ever to facilitate, in addition to the literal understanding of the norms, also that of their spiritual and theological foundation, of primary importance for a correct interpretation and application in the Spirit. Certainly the journey of renewal is not finished, indeed it is always at the beginning, because it requires the conversion of the heart, a lifelong task for each of us. We know how tiring the conversion of the heart is. The Members of the First Class in particular are called to commit themselves in this sense to overcome every temptation of secularization, that is, of a life not animated by that evangelical radicality that is proper to a religious Order. If the First Class does not complete this journey of conversion, which, although difficult and demanding, is supported by the grace of the Spirit of the Risen One, one cannot hope that the Second and Third Classes will complete it, according to their condition.
Conversion, however, is always encouraged by a significant experience that touches our hearts. Your action in favor of the Sick Lords, as you like to say, and of the poor of any kind, meritorious before God and before men, is what sustains your conversion. Charitable and apostolic action is the fruit and manifestation of a spirituality, that which from the beginning has been transmitted to you by Blessed Gerard and which you are called to incarnate in today's world in an ever greater evangelical genuineness, fruit of continuous purification.
With great joy I learned that there are aspirants who have asked to begin the experience of the novitiate, and of a residential novitiate, which is a novelty after such a long time of dissolution of community life. This is a reason for great hope, but it is also a challenge for the entire Order and especially for the formators. Formation is a fundamental aspect for all institutes of consecrated life, and is particularly demanding due to the complexity of the experience of the candidates in the present time. This requires more than ever a specific formation of the formators, without which the formative work would remain approximate and ineffective, as would happen if its process and content were not well delineated. Formation does not concern only the First Class, but, in different ways, also the Second and Third Classes. It must have as its aim, as a fundamental element, prayer: liturgical and personal, nourished by solitude and silence, dimensions necessary the more one dedicates oneself to the activity of service to others, so that this may be a testimony of the love of God, who makes himself present.
Likewise, it is a cause for great hope that some Professed members wish to begin an experience of community life. I heartily encourage this desire, because community life concretely forges mutual charity and the authentic observance of the three evangelical counsels. Even if this intention will encounter some difficulties in its realization, they can be overcome with the help of the Spirit, thanks to whom hope does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5).
May the Virgin of Philermos, Saint John the Baptist and Blessed Gerard intercede for the fulfillment of all your noblest feelings and desires, while I heartily send you the Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to your loved ones and to all you meet in your service.
From the Vatican, June 24, 2025
LEO PP. XIV
Source: Vatican.vaTO THE MEMBERS OF THE SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA
ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION
OF THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
_______
I am particularly pleased to address this message to you on the occasion of the celebration of the solemnity of Saint John the Baptist, Protector of your religious Order, which bears his name.
The Church thanks you for all the good you do where love is needed, in sometimes very difficult situations. It also thanks you for the commitment to renewal that you have been carrying forward for some years, for greater fidelity to the Gospel, in close and cordial collaboration with the Cardinal Patron, reconfirmed by me in his office. Continue in this direction!
O #PapaLeãoXIV recebeu no Vaticano o Príncipe e Grão-Mestre da Soberana Militar Ordem de #Malta, John T. Dunlap, acompanhado de uma comitiva. No final do encontro, o #Príncipe foi recebido pelo secretário de Estado, card. Pietro Parolin pic.twitter.com/sfJtbFpBzh
— Vatican News (@vaticannews_pt) June 23, 2025
We can say that Saint John the Baptist, even before his birth, fulfilled the mission received from God to be a herald of Jesus. He did so with radical austerity throughout his life. His idea of the Messiah at the beginning was still too tied to that of a rigorous judge (see Mt 3:7-12). Jesus helps him to change perspective, to convert, first of all when he presents himself to him asking to be baptized, humbly mixed in with many penitents (see Mt 3:13-17). After this manifestation, John points to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (see Jn 1 :29.36). Following his invitation, two of his disciples become disciples of Jesus (see Jn 1:37). And the Baptist, giving his life in the affirmation of the truth, will become a witness of Jesus, who is the Truth.
Saint John the Baptist, your heavenly Protector, must illuminate your life and the mission that you are called to fulfill in the Church through the action of the Holy Spirit.
Your Order has as its purpose the tuitio fidei and the obsequium pauperum . Two aspects of a single charism: the faith that is propagated and protected in loving dedication to the poor, the marginalized, all those who need the support and help of others. Not limiting oneself to helping the needs of the poor, but announcing to them the love of God with words and testimony. If this were to be lacking, the Order would lose its religious character and would be reduced to being an organization with philanthropic purposes.
The love that each of us must offer to others is that which places itself at the level of those who receive it, just as Jesus did, who placed himself at our level, in solidarity with those who are despised, with those whose lives are taken because they are considered of no value (see Luke 10:29-37). Therefore, Jesus can receive a response of love from us, because in this lowering of himself he communicates his love to us, which we can return to him in gratitude. So it is with the poor. If we love him by placing ourselves at his level, the love we communicate to him returns to us in his gratitude, made not of humiliation, but of joy.
This is the tuitio fidei , because by doing so you concretely transmit faith in God's love, offering the experience of his closeness.
To protect and preserve the faith, the apostle Paul shows us how to equip ourselves: put on the armor of God to resist the snares of the devil; gird your loins with truth; put on the breastplate of righteousness; take hold of the shield of faith, with which to extinguish the flaming arrows of the Evil One; take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (see Eph 6:11-18).
Certainly for so many praiseworthy works of good that your Order carries out in various parts of the world, you need many means, including economic ones, and many mediations. But you must always be careful to consider the means only as such, functional to the achievement of the purpose.
However, to achieve a good goal the means must be good; but in this field temptation can easily present itself under the guise of good, as an illusion of being able to achieve the good goals that one sets for oneself with means that could later prove not to be in conformity with the will of God. Even Jesus was tempted in this, when the evil one "showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory" ( Mt 4:8) and promised to give them to him if he worshipped him. But then Jesus would no longer be the suffering Servant of God, who in humility strips himself of all worldly power to conquer, with love, the love of man. Jesus reaffirms, even in this particularly subtle temptation, the supremacy of God and does not sell himself to the power of this world. If he had consented to the temptation, Jesus would have adopted illicit means and would not have achieved the end set by the Father for his mission. Over the course of its history, the Order of Malta has adopted different means depending on the circumstances, which however must be assessed in terms of their current validity in order to achieve the aim of tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum .
Over the centuries, the Order has assumed an ever greater importance in the international arena, a very particular type of sovereignty, with prerogatives in this area that must necessarily be functional to the purpose of tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum . If you were to use these prerogatives by allowing yourselves to be attracted to worldliness, perhaps without realizing it, precisely because of the illusion that worldliness entails, you would run the risk of acting while losing sight of the purpose. We must continually make our own what Jesus taught, who did not ask the Father to take us out of the world, because He sends us into the world, but that we are not of the world as He is not of the world; and He asked the Father to protect us from the evil one (see John 17:14-16.18).
The Spirit reveals the deceptions of the evil one, so we are called to continually discern whether the Spirit or the evil one or in any case our own interest is leading us.
You are engaged in a path of renewal. Renewal cannot be simply institutional, normative: it must first of all be interior, spiritual, because this gives meaning to changes in the rules. You have renewed your own law, the Constitutional Charter and the Melitense Code. This was necessary, as various things had to be clarified, especially the nature of a religious Order, given and guaranteed by the members of the First Class, but whose charismatic force is also shared by the Second and Third Classes with a different gradualness.
You have also completed the work of the "Commentary" on both normative texts. A work that is more useful than ever to facilitate, in addition to the literal understanding of the norms, also that of their spiritual and theological foundation, of primary importance for a correct interpretation and application in the Spirit. Certainly the journey of renewal is not finished, indeed it is always at the beginning, because it requires the conversion of the heart, a lifelong task for each of us. We know how tiring the conversion of the heart is. The Members of the First Class in particular are called to commit themselves in this sense to overcome every temptation of secularization, that is, of a life not animated by that evangelical radicality that is proper to a religious Order. If the First Class does not complete this journey of conversion, which, although difficult and demanding, is supported by the grace of the Spirit of the Risen One, one cannot hope that the Second and Third Classes will complete it, according to their condition.
Conversion, however, is always encouraged by a significant experience that touches our hearts. Your action in favor of the Sick Lords, as you like to say, and of the poor of any kind, meritorious before God and before men, is what sustains your conversion. Charitable and apostolic action is the fruit and manifestation of a spirituality, that which from the beginning has been transmitted to you by Blessed Gerard and which you are called to incarnate in today's world in an ever greater evangelical genuineness, fruit of continuous purification.
With great joy I learned that there are aspirants who have asked to begin the experience of the novitiate, and of a residential novitiate, which is a novelty after such a long time of dissolution of community life. This is a reason for great hope, but it is also a challenge for the entire Order and especially for the formators. Formation is a fundamental aspect for all institutes of consecrated life, and is particularly demanding due to the complexity of the experience of the candidates in the present time. This requires more than ever a specific formation of the formators, without which the formative work would remain approximate and ineffective, as would happen if its process and content were not well delineated. Formation does not concern only the First Class, but, in different ways, also the Second and Third Classes. It must have as its aim, as a fundamental element, prayer: liturgical and personal, nourished by solitude and silence, dimensions necessary the more one dedicates oneself to the activity of service to others, so that this may be a testimony of the love of God, who makes himself present.
Likewise, it is a cause for great hope that some Professed members wish to begin an experience of community life. I heartily encourage this desire, because community life concretely forges mutual charity and the authentic observance of the three evangelical counsels. Even if this intention will encounter some difficulties in its realization, they can be overcome with the help of the Spirit, thanks to whom hope does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5).
May the Virgin of Philermos, Saint John the Baptist and Blessed Gerard intercede for the fulfillment of all your noblest feelings and desires, while I heartily send you the Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to your loved ones and to all you meet in your service.
From the Vatican, June 24, 2025
LEO PP. XIV
Comments