Grand Chancellor
Minister for Foreign and Internal Affairs
The Grand Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs is the head of the executive branch. He is responsible for the foreign policy and the diplomatic missions of the Sovereign Order of Malta. He is also the Minister of Internal Affairs, in charge of the 48 National Associations of the Order in the world. Under the authority of the Grand Master and the terms of the Constitution and Code, he is responsible for the representation of the Order to third parties, the carrying out of policy and the internal administration, as well as the coordination of the activities of the Government of the Order of Malta.
Grand Chancellor, H.E. Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion in Obedience
Born in Naples on 5 October 1945, he graduated in Law at the Naples University Federico II. Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo is a widower and father of three.
He has taught International Economics at several Italian universities and as Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. He held the chair of International Economics at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Naples for 35 years. He has numerous publications to his credit and is the author of several books on international economics.
From 1983 to 1994, he was an economic advisor to several Ministers of the Italian Republic (Industry, Defence) as well as to the Prime Minister’s Office. He was also a member of the Technical Scientific Committee for Economic Planning, an economic advisor to Confindustria and numerous Italian and foreign companies. He was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Foreign Trade Institute and is a member of the Italian Society of Economists. He has written numerous editorials for the daily newspaper ‘Il Mattino’ in Naples.
He is president of the Ernst&Young Foundation, whose aim is to give opportunities to young people in disadvantaged situations. He is the promoter of a Unitalsi structure in Naples, ‘Casa Sveva’, to accommodate families of children hospitalised at paediatric centres in Campania. Since 1962, he has served as a UNITALSI volunteer in pilgrimages to the Shrines of Lourdes and Loreto. He founded and chairs the ‘Renato and Laura Paternò’ Foundation, with charitable aims.
He joined the Order of Malta in 1979 and was at the head of the Association of Italian Knights from June 2016 to April 2023. As president of the Italian Association, he was also head of the Military Corps, which has been run for over a century in close cooperation between the Italian Army and the Order of Malta, specialised in military healthcare. He has participated in numerous international pilgrimages to the Sanctuary of Lourdes and national pilgrimages to Assisi and Loreto. He served as Deputy Observer of the Order of Malta’s mission to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
He took office as Grand Chancellor on 3 September 2022. The Extraordinary Chapter General of 25-29 January 2023 has reconfirmed him for another six years.
