Activities reviewed include action for the homeless, orphaned children, the handicapped, the elderly

Twenty Hospitallers – the leading figures in the charitable activities of the Order of Malta – met in Vienna for a working weekend to review the humanitarian, healthcare and social projects they are responsible for in their own regions, and to plan next steps. The group also looked in detail at the most recent programmes of assistance set up in Haiti and in Chile by the Order of Malta, following the severe earthquakes which have hit both countries. The Grand Hospitaller of the Order, Albrecht Boeselager, outlined the Order’s plans for continued support in Haiti, which had been agreed at a meeting in Miami of the involved Order organisations the previous week.

Projects undertaken in Europe cover a wide range of care, from work with disabled or orphaned children, to the handicapped, the homeless, older people, illegal immigrants. Each Hospitaller spoke of the work under his care. Special sections were devoted to two increasing concerns:

– the care of refugees and illegal immigrants, which is a growing problem in Europe, and for which the Order runs camps in France and Germany, at the request of those governments; and

– the Order’s increased involvement in the area of dementia among older people.