In an epoch marked by an unprecedented migration crisis, “during difficult times, in which emotions often prevail over rationality, it is always best to keep to the facts”. With these words the Grand Chancellor Albrecht Boeselager summed up the spirit in which the Order of Malta has always acted and which has constantly characterized its actions in the countries where it operates.

In illustrating the Order’s many activities, the Grand Chancellor said that “bringing hope is the most important task” of our social and humanitarian programmes. It is equally essential to intervene rapidly, especially in emergencies, but the Order of Malta aims to “remain and not disappear,” said Boeselager. That is, it continues with its work even when the spotlights are turned off: “it stays behind when others leave”. The Grand Chancellor devoted particular attention to the numerous reception and integration projects for migrants in Germany, where Malteser Deutschland now operates through 58 facilities assisting over 20,000 migrants.

Finally, a few words on the topic of reconciliation in those counties, like Iraq, where war and terrorism have destroyed a millennial coexistence between people of different religious faiths. In these places, asserted Boeselager – referring to the Plain of Nineveh (Mosul) where Christians are slowly returning to their homes – “the moral and cultural destruction has wreaked even more damage than the material one, causing a catastrophic loss” for humanity as a whole. Assisting everyone, and not only Christians, to encourage reconstruction “is a very difficult mission” but one for which the Order has great hopes.