The Mass for the start of the ministry of Monsignor Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos, Conventual Chaplain Grand Cross, new Prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta was celebrated on Saturday morning in the Basilica of Saints Boniface and Alexis in Rome, marked by a great and warm participation, in spite of the rain.

In his homily, the Prelate referred to Mother Teresa of Calcutta – whom he had had the “honour to personally meet” and whom he often mentions in his sermons – and to one of her principal teachings: “It is not important what we do, but how we do it” because the important thing is “to do small things with great love”. With reference to the motto of the Order of Malta, Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum, Mgr.Cuña Ramos exhorted us to serve “well” the poor and the sick “with love, with joy”, and recalled the Lord’s teaching at the Last Supper: “I am among you as the one who serves”. At the end of the homily, the Prelate recited, not without emotion, a prayer of Mother Teresa, inviting those present to make it their own: “The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace”.

Together with the many friends and volunteers who in recent years have shared humanitarian activities and pilgrimages with Mgr.Cuña Ramos, also present at the celebration were the Grand Commander, Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau, the Receiver of the Common Treasure, Fabrizio Colonna, some members of the Sovereign Council, the Grand Prior of Rome Fra’ Roberto Viazzo, that of Naples, Fra’ Nicolò Custoza, the Procurator of Lombardy and Venice, Bernardo Gambaro, a large representation of the leaders of the Italian Association, the Order of Malta’s Military Corps and Relief Corps. Mgr. Leonardo Lemos Montanet, bishop of Ourense, the Prelate’s home diocese, the mayor of the Spanish city, Don Ricardo Gonzalez Goméz, the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See María Isabel Celaá Diéguez, the Order of Malta’s Ambassadors to Italy Stefano Ronca and to the Holy See also participated.

Pope Francis appointed Mgr. Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos as new Prelate of the Order of Malta on 21 December 2023.