The Lieutenant ad interim, Fra’ Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas, has announced that the Council Complete of State will convene on 7 November 2020 to elect the Grand Master or the Lieutenant of the Grand Master. The election will take place in the Magistral Villa in Rome.

The convening of the Council Complete of State follows the death on 29 April of the 80th Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto.

In the morning of 7 November, a Solemn official Requiem Mass in memory of Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto will be celebrated.

As provided by Art. 23 of the Constitutional Charter, the Members of the First Class participating in the Council Complete of State will meet – in the afternoon of 7 November – to propose three candidates, the so-called ‘terna’.

On Sunday 8 November the Council Complete of State will begin with a Holy Mass.

In accordance with the Sovereign Order of Malta’s Constitution (Article 23), the Council Complete of State elects a Grand Master (for life) or a Lieutenant of the Grand Master (with the same powers as the Grand Master but for a period of one year). The Council has no other assignments. With the oath taken by the newly elected Head of the Order of Malta, the Council Complete of State is dissolved.