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Order of Malta Australia

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The Australian Association of the Order of Malta celebrates its 900th anniversary at the 2013 National Assembly

14/07/2013 


The Order of Malta celebrates 900 years

Article source: Rebecca Comini, Kairos
 
THE Australian National Association of the Order of Malta celebrated the 900th anniversary of papal recognition of the order at the 2013 National Assembly, held in Melbourne on 21–23 June.

The assembly comprised addresses and discussions led by guest speakers including Rev Professor Gerald O’Collins SJ and Professor Greg Craven, breakout sessions, an election for new national office bearers, a gala dinner and three religious services.

A record number of new knights and dames, 45, were invested into the order during the assembly.
Former ambassador to the Holy See, Tim Fischer AC, was the keynote speaker at the formal gala dinner, held at the Park Hyatt, with 320 guests in attendance.

A formal solemn Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart at St Patrick’s Cathedral to close the assembly.
Vice-president of the Victorian Branch of the Order of Malta, Sir James Gobbo, said 160 delegates attended the assembly, with spouses and other guests.
‘The theme for the National Assembly was “The Way”, reflecting the order’s pilgrim history and also calling us to focus on the road ahead for the order here in Australia and around the world,” Sir James said.
‘The theme highlights not only where have we come from and causes us to look back to our origins in the 11th century and the original work we did, but also where we are today and the challenges for the future, which was addressed by the speakers at the assembly.
‘We talked about the importance of our original charism, to serve the Lord’s sick. We were a hospital order before we were a military order.’
A highlight at the conference was the attendance at two functions by the oldest Australia member, 97-year-old Ambrose Galvin, who was a founding member of the order in 1974.
A new hymn, Our Way to Christ, based on the charism of the Order of Malta was composed by Fr Chris Willcock SJ for the assembly and to celebrate the 900th anniversary.
Sir James said he believed the future of the Order of Malta in Australia looked bright.
‘We have had great success, especially in Victoria, in enrolling volunteers in our programs for the homeless. We have something like 40 volunteers at Newman College, we have volunteers at ACU in the Law Faculty because it’s part of their curriculum to carry out community service. We’re starting with Mannix College at Monash University as well.
 
View the full article at Camnews

The Australian Association

The Australian Association, formed in 1974, currently has in excess of 300 members and aspirant members across every State and Territory of Australia. We also have ongoing and strong links with the Order’s National Associations throughout the Asia Pacific Region including in Singapore and the Philippines and with members of the Order in New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand and Korea. The Order of Malta is committed to serving Our Lords the Poor and Sick worldwide and has done so for over 900 years. This website shares with you the history, mission and current activities of the Order of Malta in Australia, and provides links to the work of the Order world-wide.