The assembly has elected the members of the government for the next five years.

Rome, 2 May 2019 – Chaired by Grand Master Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, the Chapter General of the Sovereign Order of Malta was held in the Magistral Villa in Rome on 1 and 2 May.

Convened every five years, it has the task of electing the members of the Sovereign Council (the Order’s government), the Government Council and the Board of Auditors. Fra’ Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas has been elected to the office of Grand Commander, Responsible of religious and spiritual matters. Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager has been confirmed as Grand Chancellor, Head of the Executive and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dominique Prince de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel e János Graf Esterházy de Galántha have been confirmed as Grand Hospitaller, Minister of Health and International Cooperation and as Receiver of the Common Treasure, Minister of Finance, respectively. This year three Dames, heads of the associations of Argentina, Scandinavia and Singapore, were present for the first time among the Chapter members.

Grand Master Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto said: “The Chapter General is one of the most important moments in the life of our institution and a fundamental stage for reflecting on the situation of the Order of Malta. The reform process of the Constitutional Charter and Code gives this assembly an additional significance today. Our Christian identity, together with the institutional sovereignty we enjoy and our millenary experience in assisting the most vulnerable, require a structure of rules more in line with the demands of the 21st century. The reform will now continue with fresh and renewed vitality”.

62 of the Order’s representatives from the five continents took part in the Chapter General. These included 25 religious of the Order, the outgoing members of the Sovereign Council, the Prelate and the heads of the principal national bodies.

Below are the names of the members of the Sovereign Council for the next five-year period (2019-2024):

Grand Commander (Responsible of religious and spiritual matters):
Fra’ Ruy Gonçalo do VALLE PEIXOTO de VILLAS BOAS

Grand Chancellor (Head of the Executive and Minister of Foreign Affairs):
Albrecht Freiherr von BOESELAGER

Grand Hospitaller (Minister of Health and International Cooperation):
Dominique Prince de LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-MONTBEL

Receiver of the Common Treasure, (Minister of Finance):
János Graf ESTERHÁZY de GALÁNTHA

Members
Fra’ John T. DUNLAP

Fra’ Emmanuel ROUSSEAU

Fra’ Gottfried von KÜHNELT-LEDDIHN

Fra’ Roberto VIAZZO

Winfried Graf HENCKEL von DONNERSMARCK

Mauro BERTERO GUTIÉRREZ

***

Government council
Péter SZABADHEGŸ de CSALLÓKÖZMEGYERCS

Olivier Freiherr von LOUDON-VORST-GUDENAU

Francis Joseph McCARTHY

Patrick JABRE

Lady Celestria HALES

José Maria COELLO de PORTUGAL

***

Board of Auditors

Dominicus Freiherr von und zu MENTZINGEN, President

Councillors

Niels Carl A. LORIJN

Justin S. SIMPSON

Gérald BERGER

Paolo FABRIS de FABRIS

Alternate Councillors

Guy-Antoine de LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Duc de LA ROCHE-GUYON

Luca BRONDELLI, dei Conti di BRONDELLO