After more than twenty years as the operational head of Malteser International, Ingo Radtke today hands over the office of Secretary General to Clemens Graf von Mirbach-Harff during a Holy Mass conducted by Malteser International HQ Chaplain Fr. Marcus Polders marking his retirement. Participation at the ceremony will be limited due to Coronavirus-related restrictions.

“I have worked with Ingo Radtke for fifteen of his twenty years of service to the Order of Malta,” said Thierry Comte de Beaumont-Beynac, President of Malteser International. “During that time, I have been consistently impressed by his humanity, professionalism, and dedication. His leadership has helped to create an organization whose record of service to the poor and the sick is in the best traditions of the Order of Malta. He leaves behind a legacy that speaks for itself, and of which he can be proud. I am fully confident that Clemens Graf von Mirbach-Harff will be able to build successfully on this legacy. I wish them both the very best of success and God’s blessing in their future endeavors.”

Ingo Radtke, 65, from Cologne, served as Director of the Foreign Aid Service of Malteser Germany, Malteser International’s predecessor organization, from 1999; and from 2005 as the first Secretary General of Malteser International. During this time, he supervised emergency relief operations following the conflict in Kosovo, the 2005 Asian Tsunami, the Haitian Earthquake of 2010 and during Middle East and European Refugee Crisis. In his previous career he rose to the rank of Colonel in the Germany Army, where he served on the General Staff.

Clemens Graf von Mirbach-Harff, 40, was born in Cologne. Following military service, he studied Business Administration in Oxford, Madrid, Paris, and Berlin. He worked as a consultant before assuming the role of Malteser International Country Coordinator in Lebanon in 2017. He has been a knight of the Order of Malta since 2004, and Vice-President of the German Association of the Order since 2015.

Malteser International is the humanitarian relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta. With over 100 projects annually in some 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, Malteser International has been standing by those affected by poverty, disease, conflict and disaster, helping them lead a healthy life with dignity – without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles build the foundation of its work. For more information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.int