The Pope’s five-year intervention in the affairs of the Order of Malta has not been particularly happy. Some of the Order’s knights and dames feel that the effect of his involvement in its affairs and constitution has been to diminish its autonomy and amounts to an attempt to turn a sovereign order with a unique character into a religious institution under the direct control of the Vatican. At one point, the Pope virtually handed control of the Order’s governance to his delegate, Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, including the power “to resolve all internal conflicts” and convene elections to vote for a new Grand Master – an unwelcome move.