Canadian lawyer who took the oath as leader of the Knights of Malta
VATICAN CITY – Canadian Brother John T. Dunlap was sworn in the next day when Pope Francis appointed him as the new leader of the Knights of Malta.
Dunlap, a member of the sovereign council, was appointed Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta by Pope Francis on 13 June.
He was sworn in on June 14 at the Church of St. Mary of Rome on the Aventine in the presence of Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s special delegate for order, and members of the council. sovereign.
Dunlap replaces Fra Marco Luzzago, who has led the Knights of Malta since the end of 2020 and died on 7 June after a sudden illness, at the age of 71. Funeral services were held on June 14 at St. Bonifacio and Alessio on the Aventine Hill of Rome.
The order said in a statement on June 8 that Fra ‘Ruy Gonçalo do Valle, the commander-in-chief, had taken on the role of interim lieutenant upon Luzzago’s death, and would “remain head of the the sovereign order until the election of the new head of the order. “
However, Pope Francis decided to choose the new leader, and in his letter of appointment on June 13, he wrote that “the sudden departure of the Grand Master’s Lieutenant, Fra ‘ Marco Luzzago, a few months before the celebration of the extraordinary chapter. brings the Order of Malta into a new moment of shock and uncertainty. “
The order said in a statement on 13 June that “Pope Francis’ decision will allow the Order of Malta to accelerate the reform process and return to ordinary administration under a grandmaster shortly afterwards. The Order of Malta is grateful to the Holy Father of his paternal Society. “
The new Lieutenant of the Grand Master, together with Cardinal Tomasi and the sovereign council, “will continue the process of constitutional reform of the Sovereign Order of Malta,” he said.
Dunlap was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1957 and studied at the University of Nice, France; the University of Ottawa; and the University of Western Ontario, where he earned a law degree. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in public service by John Cabot University in Rome.
Dunlap is an attorney admitted to the New York State Attorneys and an attorney and attorney for the Ontario province. He joined Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller in New York in 1986 and became a partner in 1993, specializing in corporate and immigration law.
Since 1997 he has been a legal adviser to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. Cardinal Tomasi was the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva from 2003 to 2016.
Admitted to the Order of Malta in 1996, Dunlap took temporary vows as a Knight of Justice in 2004, and took his solemn vows as the first American member in 2008.
He was elected for a five-year term as a member of the sovereign council in 2009 and was re-elected in 2014 and 2019.
Since 2017 the order has been involved in a process of revising its constitution, so members have chosen to elect a lieutenant rather than a grand master, who has traditionally served for life.
The Knights of Malta has 13,500 members, as well as 80,000 volunteers and 25,000 medical professionals providing humanitarian aid and assistance in 120 countries.