New York. The Order's Delegation, led by Count Carlo Marullo di Condojanni (centre), with the Secretary General of the U.N., Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Left, Knight Fra' John Edward Critien, Member of the Sovereign Council, right, Amb. Dino Samaja, the Order's Ambassador in Paraguay and President of the Brazilian Association of Saõ Paolo.

The Sant'Angelo Fort was first mentioned many years ago, when the Maltese carried out an unofficial inquiry into the Sovereign Order's opinion of a solution which offered the possibility of a certain sovereignty, but linking this possibility to some unacceptable conditions. Political changes in Malta put an end to this "unofficial" attempt, but the solution of the Order's autonomous presence in the Sant'Angelo Fort was negotiated precisely during the last three years in a form certainly of lower level, but based on an actual agreement. We are now hoping for developments more in line with our expectations.
The reform of the Constitutional Charter and Code had also involved intense work during the last period of the de Mojana government. However, it is certainly thanks to the "New Strategies" and the Chapter General of 1994 that a concrete form has been given to many hopes in a commission which will offer the Extraordinary Chapter General, in spring 1996, a worthwhile instrument. We are certainly not talking about a revolution, but rather a useful clarification of some articles in the two documents, still rather obscure, as well as a response to the many questions put to the Grand Magistry.

Rome. Magistral Palace. The Grand Chancellor, with the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Luciano Koch (right) and the Master of Ceremonies, Prince Paolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, during the signature of the protocol for opening diplomatic relations with Bulgaria, with Amb. Kiril Maritkhov.

These successes are also due to the action of the Order's national and international bodies, in particular the silent and anonymous activities of the thousands of volunteers who offer their services under the protection of the Octagonal Cross. What exhortation or message would you like to send them?

Certainly the Order's national and international bodies have considerably helped to make many sectors of public opinion aware of the existence and possibility of action of the groups of the Octagonal Cross. And our volunteers deserve much merit for this. One example for all: during the exodus of the East Germans to the Federal Republic through Austria, the two German and Austrian relief corps erected a camp with hundreds of tents on the Austrian border in a few hours. This camp offered shelter for the exiles who were without documents and for whom the Federal Republic asked us to provide passes.

A Relief Group of the Emergency Corps of the Order of Malta (ECOM) setting up a field hospital.

After some hesitation, due to our directive of only issuing documents to our members on a mission of the Order, we said yes. But the sudden opening of the West German border meant that our intervention, which was anyway conditional on the return of the passes after entry in West Germany, was not needed. The fact that for many days the CNN television network opened all its reports on the East German exiles with the Order's flag at the entrance of the refugee camp helped to give considerable publicity to our humanitarian action. Our thanks and our encouragement go first of all to the thousands of volunteers operating under the protection of the Octagonal Cross. We remind them - even if the need has not been demonstrated that our growing function in the international sphere does not oblige us to make political statements or demonstrations. In the troubled times in which we are living, human willingness and the vocation of Christian fraternity which our centuries-old history has transmitted to us are needed for peace and progress more than a material force.

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