(Rivista Internazionale - December 1994: Work of the Commission for the Reform of the Constitutional Charter and Code - 1/3)

Chapter General

Work of the Commission for the Reform of the Constitutional Charter and Code
Report of the Receiver of the Common Treasure

Your Most Eminent Highness, Excellencies, dear Confreres,
This is not the first time that the Chapter General has dealt with a reform of the Order's constitutional documents, although it has never been possible to submit the desired amendments to an Extraordinary Chapter for final approval.

However, the third millennium will not find us unprepared when addressing the many problems caused by the tumultuous changes of the last ten years of the century.

In fact, a detailed survey of the Order's activities world-wide was carried out in 1987/88. The seminar on the Order's strategies was based on the results of this survey, summarised in the «Compte Rendu» published in 1990. The seminar focalised the current situation, indicating the paths the Order will have to follow to accomplish its own institutional ends - not forgetting the necessary reforms - with a renewed spirit and enhanced means and structures.

Today we seem practically to have accomplished this ambitious aim (for example, the development of the Order in the world, thanks to its new diplomatic relations; the Communications Office with its foreign correspondents; (ECOM, for the co-ordination of Civil Protection Corps; the Co-ordination Centre for Aid to Latin America in Boca Raton, and so on).

It will be possible to achieve other goals very soon, if the improvements and up-datings are systematic and if we can count on specific rules, in line with the times and with the already amended Canon Law.

Rome. Magistral Palace. Capitular members from all over the world during one of the sessions of the Chapter General; Knights of Justice and heads of the Order's National bodies were present.

Within this framework, the Sovereign Council - during its session on 14 October 1992, with its decree no. 7915 and the subsequent magisterial decree no. 275/8272 - set up a Commission for the Reform of the Constitutional Charter and Code which I had the great honour of chairing, assisted by its Secretary, Count Kinsky, and with the co-operation of the other members, H.E. the Hospitaller, Baron Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, H.E. Ludwig Hoffmann, member of the Sovereign Council, and Count Winfried Henckel von Donnersmarck, joining the Commission as an expert in his capacity as Secretary of the Strategies Commission.

May I express my personal thanks to them. The Commission, set up as indicated above, held several meetings to carry out its work.

First of all, the opinion of all the Grand Priories and the National Associations was requested on the constitutional changes deemed necessary.

As the replies started arriving, the Commission began studying some of the fundamental aspects, and specifically:
1) Adapting the Statutes of the Order of Malta to Canon Law;
2) Training new Knights;
3) New regulations for the admission of Dames and their possible classes;
4) Identifying characteristics of the Knights of Obedience with relation to those of the First Class;
5) Groups of friends and supporters of the Order, with the idea of creating a constitutional body.

Meanwhile, 26 replies were received with relative proposals from the Grand Priories, Priories and National Associations.

After a careful examination of the material received, the Commission carried out a technical revision of current texts, producing a series of proposals for amendments together with a series of interesting documents drafted by the Grand Priories, National Associations and members of the Sovereign Council.

All this documentation was then submitted to the Sovereign Council of 13 October 1993 which, at the suggestion of the Commission, decided to consult the representatives of the Grand Priories and National Associations on some important topics, and specifically:
1) Relations between the Order's headquarters and its institutions;
2) Structure of the Order's classes;
3) Position of Dames;
4) The Order's charisma and image.

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