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LGBT rights in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

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LGBT rights in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens and members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta may experience challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens and members.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a sovereign subject of international law that maintains diplomatic relations with a majority of sovereign states.[1] It has over 13,000 members as of 2023.[2] The Order's three principal officers are counted as citizens, with other members retaining their existing citizenship.[3] The Order has its own constitution and issues its own diplomatic passports.[4]

Status

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As of 2022, the Constitutional Charter of the Order states that it "carries out its charitable works for the sick, the needy and the refugees without distinction of religion, ethnicity, sex, origin and age", though neither it nor the Order's Code mention sexual orientation.[5] The Order adheres to Roman Catholicism[4][6] and is known for its conservative views on social issues.[7]

First Class members of the Order, known as Knights of Justice, must take a vow of chastity. The majority of other members are married.[8]

Support for LGBT issues has affected people's ability to become members in the past. In 2009, former Washington, D.C. mayor Anthony A. Williams withdrew his application for Order membership after members protested his support for abortion and same-sex unions.[9] In a 2010 publication of the Order's Journal of Spirituality, Baron Guglielmo Guidobono Cavalchini, Delegate of Lombardy, wrote that a member of the Order should not accept "the modern habit of living together without marriage or homosexual unions".[10]

In a 2015 interview, Order patron from 2014–2023 Raymond Leo Burke (a largely ceremonial role) said that gay couples and divorced Catholics trying to live good and faithful lives were like "the person who murders someone and yet is kind to other people".[11]

History

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See also: LGBT rights in Malta and History of the Catholic Church and homosexuality

In Hospitaller Malta, governed by the Order of Malta's predecessor of the Knights Hospitaller between 1530 and 1798, there was harsh prejudice and laws towards those who were found guilty or spoke openly of being involved in same-sex activity.[12][13] Sodomy was considered a common practice in Malta, and generally associated with Italians and Muslims. It was common for males attracted towards other males, including knights, who had to be supposedly celibate, to seek sexual favours with young looking men, identifiable effeminate males, and sometimes pederasty.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Sovereign Military Order of Malta. "Bilateral relations". orderofmalta.int. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  2. ^ Gran Priorato di Lombardia e Venezia. Atti approvati dal Capitolo Generale Straordinario, Ariccia, 25-29 gennaio 2023, 18.
  3. ^ Sack, John (1959). Report from Practically Nowhere. Harper. p. 140. as part of the bargain only three men – the grand master, the lieutenant grand master, and the chancellor – could be citizens there. The other S.M.O.M.ians were to be citizens of the country they lived in."
  4. ^ a b Méndez, Lola (1 February 2024). "This is the world's rarest passport". CNN. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  5. ^ "CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER AND CODE" (PDF). Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  6. ^ De Paulo, Craig (2005). "Concerning Homosexuality and Christian Marriage" (PDF). Hospitallers. Vol. 1. Sovereign Military Order of Malta American Association. p. 5. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  7. ^ Hoekstra, Michelle (12 January 2018). The Sovereign Military Order of Malta An exploration of the nonrecognition by the Netherlands (Master thesis). Erasmus University Rotterdam.
  8. ^ "The Order of Malta—What does it mean to be a member of a religious lay order?". Order Of Malta American Association. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Blog Posts Cause Former DC Mayor to Reconsider Society App". NBC4 Washington. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  10. ^ Cavalchini, Guglielmo Guidobono (2010). "Formation and Service in the Third Class" (PDF). Journal of Spirituality Formation and Service. Order of Malta: 69. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  11. ^ Gibson, David (27 March 2015). "Cardinal Raymond Burke: Gays, remarried Catholics, murderers are all the same". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  12. ^ Brincat, Joseph M. (2007). "Book reviews" (PDF). Melita Historica. 14: 448. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2016.
  13. ^ a b Buttigieg, Emanuel (2011). Nobility, Faith and Masculinity: The Hospitaller Knights of Malta, c.1580-c.1700. A & C Black. p. 156. ISBN 9781441102430.
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