In his visit to the Vatican to pay his respects, the Grand Master of the Order, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, rendered homage to the Holy Father, whose body lay in state in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican.

Accompanying the Grand Master were some members of the Sovereign Council, the Prelate of the Order, Monsignor Angelo Acerbi and the Order’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Alberto Leoncini Bartoli.

News of the death of His Holiness John Paul II has been received with profound sorrow by the Order of Malta.

The Grand Master of the Order, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, called on the Order’s members worldwide to join in prayer for the repose of the soul of  ‘this extraordinary servant of God who changed and moved the whole world’.

The Order’s flag is flying at half-mast on the Magistral Palace as a sign of mourning.