“When you come to a fork in the road,” Yogi Berra is said to have recommended, “take it.” That is more or less what the Order of Malta have just done in their elections. The 56 voters had a choice between the old order, represented by previous Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing, and the reformist movement dominated by German knights, most prominently Albrecht von Boeselager.
That is an oversimplification, of course; but the two sides certainly exist. The Festingites believe that the order’s constitution works tolerably well. They merely want to expand the order’s charitable work in 120 countries around the world, and deepen its spirituality, particularly by encouraging religious vocations. (The number of knights professing poverty, chastity and obedience stands at about 60.) Their critics say they are stuck in the past – “frilly old diehards”, according to one prominent critic – and can’t see the need for reform.
