Who is Albrecht von Boeselager? – kath.ch
Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager was Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta. Nun disempowered Pope Francis. Boeselager’s revival experience was once in Lourdes: He deeply integrated how Dominicans kissed suppurating wounds.
Ludwig Ring-Eifel and Alexander Brueggemann
«Etiam si omnes, not me. – Even if everyone participates – I don’t.” That’s what it says on a half-timbered house at his family’s headquarters. And that’s how Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, sees himself.
Dropped off in Rome – now more time for Kreuzberg Castle?
It lies beautifully there, Kreuzberg Castle, on a small rocky plateau steeply above the river in the Altenahr district of Kreuzberg. It has been the home of the von Boeselager family since 1820, but dates back to 1363.
The lord of the castle Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager could now be found there again, because on Saturday the Pope deposed him together with the entire leadership of the Sovereign Order of Malta.
Around 100 ambassadors – also in Geneva
As Grand Chancellor, he was Foreign Minister of the Order with its around 100 ambassadors, around 13,500 Order members in three estates and 120,000 honorary and full-time employees.
Marie-Thérèse Pictet-Althann is Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the United Nations in Geneva.
It was a full-time, global job: talks, conferences, political, social, diplomatic and humanitarian advocacy. Boeselager was often in Rome, the seat of the Maltese on the Aventine. And now and then he has also been to Geneva, where the Sovereign Order of Malta has a Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Married to von und zu Guttenberg
The father of five children, born in 1949 and married to von und zu Guttenberg, makes no fuss about himself or his father.
After the Second World War, the Nazi resistance fighter Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager was one of the co-founders of the Malteser relief service. On his initiative, the sick pilgrimages of the Maltese to the southern French pilgrimage site of Lourdes also go back – which ultimately also brought his son Albrecht to the order.
Dominicans kiss suppurating sores in Lourdes
“I was probably 20 when I went to Lourdes for the first time,” he reports. First he cared for infirm pilgrims in front of the baths.
Worship at the Grotto of Mary in Lourdes in 2017.
“The sick have to be put on other couches or chairs. And suddenly someone came out of the bathrooms, grabbed my collar and said: ‘We urgently need help in there.’ Two Dominicans were on duty there, who kissed the sick – literally – the suppurating wounds. That influenced me a lot.”
Annette Schavan intervened for Boeselager in 2016
It was a long way from there to the governing body of the Order, but it has now come to an end. The nobleman is deposed for the second time, but this time probably forever. Pope Francis personally kicked him out.
Annette Schavan
When the then Grand Master of the Maltese, the Brit Matthew Festing, declared him disempowered in 2016, it was still an internal scandal. Among others, the then German ambassador to the Holy See, Annette Schavan, intervened with the EU states against the putsch.
Francis wants a fresh start without Boeselager
Pope Francis intervened in the dispute over direction and urged Festing to resign. Von Boeselager returns with papal backing and was able to continue as Grand Chancellor with the support of a strong majority in the order.
Cardinal Tomasi is responsible for reforming the Order of Malta.
But now the Pope has decided to radically reform the order and to completely reorganize the leadership. In doing so, his former affiliated Boeselager must also clear the way. (cic)
© Catholic Media Center, 09/04/2022
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