THE PRIORY OF ST.JOHN OF THE SOVEREIGN ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST.JOHN OF JERUSALEM, THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA.

by

James J. Algrant

Had it not been for the fact that it was so unreal and that no one in his right mind would be taken in by it, I would have included this group in my paper on the Proliferation of Orders of St.John (http://199.1.41.142/prolifer.htm) which I published here some time ago. I was, it seems, somewhat naïve. A url on the web (http://www.global-money.com/products/noble.html) which I recently found and which featured the same coat of arms led me to think that this might be the same body and prompted me to write this piece now. Some background is in order.

In late July 1989 an advertisement meant to arouse susceptible Americans appeared in an expensive glossy magazine. The ad suggested that individuals interested in performing charitable work under the auspices of the "Sovereign Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, The Knights of Malta" write to its headquarters at 415 East Third Avenue, Red Springs, North Carolina, 28377 for further information. A friend and fellow tracker of such organizations answered the ad and received a reply in the form of an incredibly badly written circular addressed impersonally to "Prospective members of The Priory of St. John", a copy of which he immediately sent to me thinking, quite rightly, that it should be exposed. The sheet informs the "prospective member" that this body is an "active Protestant order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem composed of ordained clergymen, laymen, physicians, health care providers, humanitarians, philanthropists and benevolent men and women of all Christian denominations, who want to be recognized and identified with an ancient and honorable order of knighthood and nobility".

The order is described as: "sovereign and independent sharing historical lineage with the Roman Catholic order of hospitallers of St. John both adhering to divergent succession. Our priory has a continuity and lineage of 328 years (1654) descended from the Grand Priory of Scotland (a subsidiary of Valletta, Malta) an historical lineage as a sovereign order since 1874." This statement makes no sense. If it shares an historical lineage with the Hospitallers of St.John but if each adheres to a divergent succession it is hard to understand the first half of the sentence unless you substitute origin for lineage. Further, this would indicate that this gathering saw the light of day in 1982. It is hard to believe that this group managed to survive for seven years (in 1989) and may still be active today.

Membership in the order consists of honorary knights and dames, honorary brothers and sisters, honorary nobles, and "nobles of the Court of St. John of Jerusalem". Lest the prospective member have reservations about the seriousness or honorability of the endeavor, an effort is made to convince him. "All benefactors of the order are provided financial records of all charitable and humanitarian endeavors." Prospective applicants who wish to receive more information are invited to include a "$10.00 honorarium" along with enquiry for literature. The "honorarium", it is explained, is used to cover the chancellery’s administrative responsibilities.

If not yet entirely convinced of the nature of this outfit the last paragraph of the throwaway should remove any doubt.

"On behalf of His Serene Highness Prince CELSIOR VII, the Grand Sovereign Master and myself James M. Owen, The Grand Chancellor of the Court of Saint John of Jerusalem we mutually extend to you a sincere thank you for your interest in The O.S.J., The Knights of Malta, and hope and pray that GOD may bless you for any personal commitment to a better world you engender through this expression of grace."

(Sgd.) " +James + Valletta,

"His Excellency, Dr. Sir, The Right Honorable The Viscount of Valletta Grand Chancellor of the Court of Saint John of Jerusalem, Grand Prior of the Priory of Saint John, Knight Commander Grand Cross (O.S.J.), The Knights of Malta, A servant of the priory, The Right Reverend Lord +James M. Owen, G.C. O.S.J., G.P. O.S.J., K.C. G.C. O.S.J."

 

Needless to say we quickly sent the $10 to see what more we could learn about the group so that we could share it with the reader. Several days later the information packet arrived. It was in a red folder with fifteen pages of appallingly written text and two applications. The whole was embellished with a scattering of incredible coats of arms, (one of which appears in the heading of this paper) designed by someone who had, obviously not the slightest inkling of the rules of heraldry.

The second paragraph of the introduction gives us a brief glimpse at the history of this enterprise. Its first grand master was one H.S.H. Prince Jean Roger Guiscard Steward de Hauteville de MacArthur, Grand Duke of M’dina who was invested as H.S.H. The Prince of Valletta in 1874. It would be interesting to know from which archive this data was obtained. Who was this fellow and by whom was he invested and where? To our knowledge of the Maltese nobility, which we admit is somewhat limited, there has never been a title of Grand Duke of Mdina nor of Prince of Valletta. There was, of course, the greatest Grand Master of the original Order of St. John who reigned in Malta between 1557 and 1568 Jean Parisot de la Valette, a Frenchman. He, however was neither a grand duke nor a prince, but a gentleman from Provence who counted the Counts of Toulouse among his ancestors. Neither was there ever a Grand Priory of Scotland, although there was a commandery at Torphichen, not far from Edinburgh which had been established as long ago as 1150 and which was on occasion erroneously referred to as Priory of Scotland.

The Priory of Saint John (O.S.J.) The Knights of Malta "is in continuous communion with the Protestant faith and is now co-existing with the Holy Episcopal Church Worlwide (H.E.C.W.), a Scottish Episcopal Communion by special charter of the H.E.C.W. (1980) affirming all powers and jurisdictions of The Priory of Saint John, (O.S.J.) The Knights of Malta ante ad literam." This is a verbatim quotation. What is meant by "in continuous communion", by "now co-existing"? It only begins to make some sense when one introduces a comma after (H.E.C.W.) and one after Scottish Episcopal Communion. Thus it would appear that the H.E.C.W. granted a special charter to the order in 1980 which confirms all powers and jurisdiction to this body. We have pointed out ad nauseam that recognition or protection of an order can only be valid if it is granted by a fons honorum. The H.E.C.W. cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered as such. The brochure gives the following totally incomprehensible description of the H.E.C.W. as: "A legally incorporated non-profit ecclesiastical synod which provides administrative structure within a secular state granted charter that reaffirms the apostolic Christian lineage of the Court of Saint John of Jerusalem." What does this mean? One is tempted to ask if this is a bad translation from another language.

Next is a list of executive officers of the Priory of Saint John, (O.S.J.). Under the heading of "The Court of Saint John of Jerusalem" :

The Grand Master: Celsior VII, Prince of Valetta and Grand Duke of M’dina, Most Reverend Apostolic Bishop of the H.E.C.W, Most Eminent Grand Sovereign of the Court of Saint John of Jerusalem. Enthroned on 1 January 1988. Seventh Prince of Valetta, and seventy eighth Grand Duke of M’dina.

The Grand Prior: His Excellency,the Right Honourable Dr. Sir. James M. Owen, Grand Chancellor of the Court of Saint John of Jerusalem, The Viscount Valletta.

The Grand Marshall of the Court: The Most Noble Chaplain General of the Priory of Saint John,(O.S.J.) The Knights of Malta Lord William C. MacNeill of Valletta .

Another Chaplain: Ernest Graham, Lord Graham of Valletta.

Lord Chamberlain of the Court and Venerable Archdeacon of the Priory of Saint John:

Harvey H. Brock.

The Archivist of the Court and Deaconess of the Priory: Ms. Deborah Lee

Prima Grand Digitaire of the Court (honoris causa): Ms. Janie S. Blackwell (+RIP)

What in the world is a "Grand Digitaire"? We wouldn’t dare to speculate.

"The Court of Saint John etc." appears to have declared itself to be a fons honorum of which the "Priory of Saint John etc." is the "chivalric arm", whatever that means. In addition the "Court", has for some reason appropriated the names of two Maltese cities Valletta, the actual capital of the island republic and M’dina, the ancient capital and bestowed them to various officers of the organization as titles of nobility . If this were akin to the Society for Creative Anachronism which is nothing more than an admitted simulation of a medieval kingdom with a monarch, court, nobility, parliament which stages jousts and tournaments and medieval war games, there would be nothing for which to reproach it. This, however, is not the case. This is serious business.

The brochure states that the modern "purpose" of the O.S.J. is to perpetuate the memory and benevolent spirit of the original knights. The order is actively engaged in charitable works for humanity but unfortunately, we are not made privy to them. It also honors individuals who, themselves engage in charitable activities by "conferring distinctions (Honorary inactive memberships, active memberships, awards and noble designations)". That's more like it! While not seeming to engage itself in charitable works as an order it encourages its members to engage in them. Easier and less responsibility!

Again quoting from the brochure, "The O.S.J., The Knights of Malta" confers three active ranks or grades (membership) and one honorary grade (honorary membership). These are: Knight Commander Grand Cross (and Dame) (K.C.G.C.O.S.J.); Knight of Justice and Grace (and Dame) (K.O.S.J.) which includes Knight and Dame Chaplain; Brother and Sister of Mercy (O.S.J.); Knight of Honor, Dame of Honor, Brother of Honor, Sister of Honor (honorary)." What a hodgepodge!

The next two paragraphs bear citing in extenso:

" The O.S.J., The Knights of Malta with the Auspices of H.S.H. Prince Celsior VII, The Grand Sovereign Master will appoint those members of the Priory (active members) who donate financial resources, gifts, benefices, annuities, and extraordinary services to the O.S.J., to be honorary members of The Court of Saint John of Jerusalem with appropriate noble designations" .

(There is nothing subtle about that. )

"The H.E.C.W., on suitable occasions will honor selected individuals whom it deems worthy to receive recognition by conferring the religious, non-academic, honorary distinction of Doctor of Christian Humanities (D.C.H.) ."

In order to join this lunacy the candidate must be sponsored. The sponsor may or may not be a member himself. His responsibilities include forwarding the required documents, logistics, the administrative fees and honoraria for the candidate. The documents include a completed application along with a $25 filing fee; a detailed résumé; a letter of recommendation from the sponsor; a personal letter of recommendation from the candidate's pastor; two character references; a handwritten letter from the candidate petitioning reception into the order; a notarized disclaimer from the candidate absolving the order from any invasion of privacy in the investigation process; a recent passport-size photograph.

The investiture ceremony may be held anywhere at all, i.e. a church, a motel or hotel meeting room or a hospital chapel rented for the purpose or in conjunction with another program such as a retirement ceremony, award or other function. The sponsor is responsible for all the arrangements including the first class travel and accommodation of the dignitaries. The suggested honorarium per candidate is $1400 which includes the insignia and the "accolade by ceremonial sword", the investiture ceremony, (one would think the accolade would be part of the ceremony) and the presentation of the diploma. There seems to be no suggested minimum donation for an investiture in absentia the amount is left to the individual, however in this case the insignia must be purchased separately.

Piqued by the similarity of the badge but unable to conclude that we are dealing with the original body or a distinctly new one, I contacted Global Money Consultants requesting some clarifications. Soon I received a packet containing brochures for each of the services offered by this company, among which was one for "The Sovereign Principality of Saint John"; "The Royal Grand Priory of Saint John"; "The Sovereign Royal Military Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem"; "The Knights Royal of Saint John".

The brochure which includes an application is a verbatim copy of that which is found at the url mentioned above, with the exception that on the back page of the printed version there appears a highly stylized illuminated and revealing "sovereign decree" issued on 7 January 1985, or four years prior to my contact with the original body described above, and signed by Prince Arnaldo Leopoldo Petrucci Di Vacone e Siena. The decree, in effect, dismisses the Grand Chancellor Dr. Wladyslaw Kolakowski and the Secretary of State Sir Abukuse Mbirika along with the "diplomatic corps" and states that a cabinet of twelve ministers is to be appointed within twelve months of the date of the decree. It ends by stating that the Grand Master does not recognize and denounces as illegitimate any other order or fraternity that may have developed for mercenary reasons or reasons unknown and which over the past years have claimed the name and insignia of the order. Lastly, it states that it only recognizes the sovereignty and authenticity of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

The chivalric enterprises of Prince Arnaldo and his father Prince Basilio Petrucci Di Vacone e Siena as well as those of renowned philatelist Dr. Wladyslaw Kolakowski have been covered in any number of books and are subject of many articles in the international press.

Asked for further clarification on the order they are representing, Global Money Consultants stated: "We only act as agents for this Order which is headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama. We are not in a position to explaining any connection between the above mentioned gentlemen (CELSIOR VII and Mr. Owen) and if there is really any…Moreover, we really don’t know whether any of the Orders is fully legitimate and approved. As you perhaps already know there are more than thirty such Orders worldwide (other of them self-styled and other no) that compete with ALL the others for legitimacy and originality. Unfortunately, our heraldic knowledge is very limited to the extent that ALL of them appear to us as equal. Regards, GLOBAL MONEY CONSULTANTS."

To conclude, it is possible that the use of the same badge by the CELSIOR VII order subject of this paper, and by that flogged by the Princes Petrucci Di Vacone e Siena is a coincidence but in any event there is no doubt that should anyone be tempted by either group he should carefully heed Jonathan Caltrap’s advice: "Caveat emptor".