2022: Clarification about the Identity and Sovereignty of the Knights of Malta (KMFAP)

Clarification about the Identity and Sovereignty of the Knights of Malta (KMFAP)CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE IDENTITY AND SOVEREIGNTY OF THE
FEDERATION OF AUTONOMOUS PRIORIES OF THE
SOVEREIGN ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM,
KNIGHTS OF MALTA (KMFAP)
IN FACE OF THE RECENT PAPAL DECISIONS REGARDING THE SO-CALLED SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA (SMOM)

On the 3rd September 2022, His Holiness Pope Francis wisely took the decision of dissolving the leadership of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) and of appointing a provisional government, besides imposing a new Constitutional Charter on them.

In his Decree His Holiness The Pope recalls how “the prerogatives of the Order do not constitute the set of powers and prerogatives proper to Sovereign entities” “in the full sense of the word,” as stipulated in the 24 January 1953 sentence issued by the Tribunal of Cardinals. This sentence of the Cardinal’s Court also states clearly that the SMOM is a religious Order, therefore, it “depends in its various forms on the Holy See”.

In the sequence of that sentence given by the highest court of the Catholic Church at the time,
and in view of it, one of the Knights of the Autonomous Priories (KMFAP) requested the Italian Courts
to pronounce on the legitimacy of the rights of His Eminent Highness
Prince Nicola Ligny-Luxembourg di Lascaris-Ventimiglia,
the then Grand Master of the Autonomous Priories – Priorati Autonomi Reuniti as it was called at the time in
Italian – (KMFAP) as legal and direct successor of the old Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and also on the right of H.E.H. Prince Ligny-Luxembourg to invest new knights of St. John also said Knights of Malta.
In a very long, well-reasoned and well-argued Final Sentence under nº 35/55,
the Italian Court of Santa Agata di Puglia, on the 25/06/1955, was very clear by stating the followings…

http://www.kmfap.com/upload/Image/2022.09/DECLARATION.pdf

GRAND MASTER’S MESSAGE ON THE OCCASION OF THE FESTIVITIES OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS IN APRIL 2022

During the month of April of the present year of 2022 different religions solemnly celebrate some of their most important festivities, such as the Rama Navami for the Hindus, the Ramadan for the Muslim, the Passover or Pesach for the Jewish and the Easter for the Christian,
therefore the Grand Master and Head of the State of the Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta ( KMFAP ),
on behalf of all the Structures of our Sovereign Order and of the Government of our State,
comes to express to our Knights and Dames of the different religions the deepest respect and the best wishes to all.
The rules and principles of the modern and civilised Human Societies are based on the teachings of the different religions that have,
all of them, similar principles and rules showing to the Mankind the path of Good towards Perfection.
All religions teach us the virtue of Compassion, the importance of Mutual Respect, the greatness Tolerance and the supreme value of Life.
Those are the values that rule our life in the community of people, both at national and international level,
and rule also the relations among the community of the States; those are the rules that punish ( even with sentences to time in prison )
those who mistreat or hurt animals like dogs and cats;
those are the rules that make the crimes of war and the killing of civilians ( mainly women, children and elderly people )
so unacceptable, so repugnant, so repulsive and so unacceptable, even for those who, not being religious, are members of a civilised society.
War Crimes are pure savagery and even the animals show more respect for each other than some humans do…
In this month, so full of solemn religious festivities, so full of high spiritual energy, in this month of prayer, the Grand Master invites all the Knights and Dames of the Federation to reflect about and to pray for those who suffer all the horrors of War and the losses of the priceless lives of their beloved ones.
May the God of all religions save and protect all those who deserve to be saved and who need to be protected.

His Eminent Highness Jose, Prince
Grand Master and Head of the State

25th February 2022 Mons. Fabbri passed away

Dear Dames and Knights,

It is with very deep sorrow that the Magisterial House of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,
Knights of Malta, Federation of the Autonomous Priories (KMFAP) announces the decease of our dear brother,
Monsignore Fabio Fabbri, Grand Prior of the Italian Langue, Magisterial Chaplain and Spiritual Guide of the Grand Master,
Prelate of Honour of His Holiness the Pope and Grand Cross Knight of St. John.

Mons. Fabbri passed away peacefully in the afternoon of 25th February 2022 in Siena, Italy, at the age of 79,
and his funeral service took place on the 28th February – presided by His Eminence the Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice, Archbishop of Siena.
Dom Fabio, born on 3rd May 1942 in Scarperia, Italy, was ordained a priest on the 22nd March 1970 and had a brilliant career in the service of the Roman Catholic Church, performing important and relevant duties. In KMFAP he was a member of the Magisterial Board of Religious Counsellors and Interfaith Pluralism of our Sovereign Order as well as President of the Federation Institute for Penitentiary Assistance (FIPA).
The Prince Grand Master, who presented personally his most sincere condolences to the brother and sisters of Dom Fabio,
declared a 3-day official mourning for the State of the Federation, during which our flags must fly at half-mast in all embassies and consulates of KMFAP around the world.
The decease of Monsignore Fabio Fabbri is an irreplaceable loss to KMFAP.
Requiescat in Pace!

28th February 2022 Message of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta (KMFAP) in Times of War

Message of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta (KMFAP) in Times of War

“It’s the tragedy of our times that lunatics must lead the blind.”
(William Shakespeare, in King Lear Act 4 Scene 1)

In times of War we must defend Peace more vigorously. Our federation – the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta,
Federation of the Autonomous Priories (KMFAP) – both as an Order and as a Sovereign State is by definition and by its Constitutional law: Neutral,
Supranational and Multi-Confessional, never fights against anybody or anything, but always fights for the principles we defend – in this case fighting for Peace -,
however neutrality does not mean disinterest or detachment from reality, therefore, in accordance with our principles,
this message will consist of a brief meditation about War and Peace, so each one of our Knights and Dames can draw their own conclusions.

ABOUT WAR

The truth is that states historically start wars against other states with two main objectives: the first aim is to steal
(to steal territorial possessions, valuable goods or precious commodities of the attacked states),
the second is to gain power or influence over the others or over a region, but of course,
the attackers always create or invent a good cause or an excuse for the wars they started,
causes such as Religion, Freedom of the populations they attack and defence of their own territory or culture and civilization.
For this effect, the attackers always create a nice story, which is most often a script based on lies, on false excuses or on distorted “historical” facts.
Mainly a state only starts a war against another state when it is sure of winning that war,
so we frequently see the strong attacking the weak and the result of these attacks are the tragedies that history clearly tells,
from the ancient to the recent times.

Most wars are provoked or started by dictators or tyrants,
and they all share a few traits in common: they all have huge egos, and they all create a cult of their own personalities around them.
Dictators and tyrants usually have a tragic end, as history shows us,
from Julius Caesar to Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, or Mussolini among so many others who convince themselves that they have a place in history
in the Gallery of Great Men, but history has place reserved for them in its Gallery of Great Villains…
These dictators are generally ridiculous men, theatrically pathetic, most of them with funny hairstyles, other with laughable moustaches or pathetic faces where the Botox replaces the wrinkles brought by age, but they all have other characteristics in common, such as their poor relationship with truth and no empathy for the suffering, pain and distress of people, so to serve their personal interests – or their big egos – they do not care about causing millions of deaths and incredible sufferance and misery, someone once said that “the wolf doesn’t concern himself with opinions of the sheep…”.
Those who make war spend millions each minute making armament or weaponry – usually to kill poor and vulnerable people – millions that should be spent in favour of the well-being and progress of their people, and we know that there are no wars without weapons, neither weapons without wars… Mia Couto, the Mozambican writer, once wrote that “… in War the poor are the first to be killed and in Peace the poor are the first to die”.

ABOUT PEACE

“Peace is not the absence of War, Peace is the absence of Violence” so, as misery, starvation, disrespect for human rights, corruption, poor education and health care, environmental destruction, abuse of power and intolerance of all kinds are forms of violence, we cannot say that we live in peace, but the armed conflicts only contribute to make everything worse.

It is quite strange that the environmental groups and respective activists, who cry out loud in peacetime that everything is harmful and disruptive to the environment, never show their face nor make their voice heard in wartime, being a fact that the military conflicts have tragic results of all kinds for the environment…

Only Peace can bring true Freedom;
Only Peace can bring Progress;
Only Peace can bring better Education and Health Care;
Only Peace can bring respect for the Human Dignity and Human Rights;
Only Peace can bring Happiness;
Only in Peace we can protect the Environment!

For all the above said it is the obligation of each and every one of the KMFAP Knights and Dames to fight for attaining and preserving Peace and in times of War to help and support the victims, whoever they are, wherever they are. As Miguel Cervantes said in his book through the words of Don Quixote: “it is not the responsibility of Knights (…) to discover whether the afflicted, the enchained and the oppressed whom they encounter on the road, are reduced to these circumstances and suffer this distress for their vices, or for their virtues: the Knight’s sole responsibility is to succour them as people in need, having eyes only for their sufferings, not for their misdeeds”.

Magisterial House, 28th February 2022

His Most Eminent Highness Prince José
Grand Master and Head of the State

18th February 2022 Sir Daniel Lee Starks, Knight of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus, who passed away.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”(Matthew 5:4)
Dear Dames and Knights, 
It is with deep regret that the Magisterial House of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, Federation of the Autonomous Priories (KMFAP) announces the decease of Sir Daniel Lee Starks, Knight of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus, who passed away on the 18th February 2022, at the age of 73, in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Sir Daniel, who was the founder and president of the Starks Training Institute, Inc. in Charlotte, was known for hosting a long running news series for News Channel 36 (WCNC-TV) “Don’t be a Victim” as well as “Partners Against Crime”. The “Don’t Be A Victim” series helped everyday people by offering them various crime prevention tips and covered a wide range of self-defence topics. His series won an Emmy Award and were nominated for an Emmy ten times. 
Sir Daniel Starks and his life partner, Lady Constance Lynn Smigiel – Dame of Cyprus, believed in personal safety and together they taught self-defence classes as well as firearm safety and carry conceal classes. 
Sir Daniel helped tens of thousands of citizens to empower themselves to have the correct response when things go wrong. He taught law-abiding citizens (incl. teens, families, students, new moms, singles, and senior citizens) to look for the best way to protect themselves. His clients also included agents from the United States Secret Service and FBI, as well as officers from state and local law enforcement. He designed custom self-defence programs for prominent business leaders, politicians, celebrities, and sports figures alike as well. Sir Daniel was ranked as the number one NRA instructor/recruiter in the country in 2009. Furthermore, he was a member of the American Women’s Self-Defence Organization, Infragard, National Range Officers Association and the National Speakers Association. 
On the 12th January 2013 in Charlotte, NC, Sir Daniel Starks was Knighted as Knight of Cyprus in an official Ceremony of Knighthood of KMFAP, led by His Grace Count Sir George Popper, Lieutenant General of the Federation and Executive Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus – Knights of Sword and Silence in representation of His Eminent Highness the Prince Grand Master. 
In his personal name and on behalf of all Knights and Dames of our Sovereign Order and State, the Grand Master expresses condolences and support to his beloved wife, Lady Connie and to all the bereaved family at this time of grief.
Requiescat in Pace! 

11th February 2022 Announcement about the passing away of Sir Attila Erdőfi-Szabó, Knight of Malta (KMFAP)

“By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death will seize the doctor too.”
William Shakespeare

Dear Dames and Knights,

It is with deep regret that the Magisterial House of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,
Knights of Malta, Federation of the Autonomous Priories (KMFAP) announces the decease of our dear Knight,
Sir Dr. Attila Erdőfi-Szabó on the 11th February 2022 in Budapest, Hungary, at the age of 55.
Sir Attila was a brilliant Biophysicist, who developed the innovative EMOST,
an advanced medical treatment equipment distributed by his company Biolabor.
In his personal name and on behalf of all Knights and Dames of our Sovereign Order and State,
the Grand Master expresses condolences and support to the bereaved family at this time of grief.

Requiescat in Pace!

11th February 2022

11th February 2022 Sir Narcy

Sir Narcy 11th February 2022

Sir Narcy was awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the first-ever edition of the Malta Film Awards,
held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta. The event aims to celebrate the success story of the creatives and projects in Malta’s cinematic history that ensured the country reaches a unique level of excellence. Sir Narcy was selected from among 5 nominees, 2 of whom were well known British professional actors, and he was recognised for a dramatic part he portrayed in the feature film “Knock Me Up Knock Me Down” (Ħabbilni Ħa Nirbaħ).
Sir Narcy was also among the Hollywood elite, including director Roland Joffe` (The Mission), composer John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon) and actor Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction) who received the Best Actor in a Leading Role award for his performance in Maltese film “Blood on the Crown”. Also of note are Sir Ridley Scott – receiving the Malta Film Ambassador Award, and Russell Crowe – receiving the Malta Film Industry Honorary Award.
Sir Narcy has a 50-year career in the theatre and film industry,
where he has worked as a script writer, director, actor and Malta Film Studios director.
In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged his fellow nominees and his lovely wife Lauren,
who has supported him throughout his career.
He opened the fabulous event with a bang, drawing much laughter and applause.
The program presenter, Britain’s Got Talent judge, David Walliams, remarked: “This speech will soon be available on audio books”.
With this extraordinary event transmitted live not only for Malta Television but also on social media worldwide, Sir Narcy brought proud honour to us all,
his brother Knights and Dames of KMFAP.
Dear Sir Narcy,
in the name of all the Knights and Dames of KMFAP, please accept our heartfelt congratulations for this prestigious award!

KMFAP Organisation