La Présidente du Gouvernorat à l’investiture des nouveaux Chevaliers de l’Ordre de Malte à New York

« Pèlerins d’espérance » dans un monde divisé

Dans leur engagement à défendre la foi et à servir les pauvres, les chevaliers de l’Ordre de Malte deviennent des « pèlerins d’espérance » dans un monde complexe et divisé. C’est ce qu’a souligné sœur Raffaella Petrini, Présidente du Gouvernorat de l’État de la Cité du Vatican, lors de la Messe pour l’investiture des nouveaux membres de l’Association américaine de l’Ordre de Malte, guidée par le Président Kenneth Craig.

La célébration a été présidée par le Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archevêque de New York, à la Cathédrale Saint-Patrick, dans l’après-midi du 14 novembre. Parmi les participants à la cérémonie se trouvaient, entre autres, plusieurs membres du Conseil Souverain.

Cette espérance, a ajouté sœur Petrini, se manifeste dans le choix de vivre avec intégrité, de cultiver des relations authentiques avec Dieu, avec les autres et avec la création, et d’accueillir sa propre fragilité, ainsi que celle d’autrui, dans l’esprit du Bon Samaritain.

La Présidente du Gouvernorat a également souligné que les racines de l’Ordre à Jérusalem inspirent à construire des ponts, à promouvoir l’unité et la réconciliation et à croire au pardon comme source de guérison et de nouveaux départs.

Nous publions ci-dessous le discours en anglais de sœur Petrini :

Your Eminence,

Your Excellencies,

Reverend Chaplains,

Distinguished Guests,

All you gathered here,

I would like to thank the President, Kenneth Craig, the Officers and Board of Directors of the American Association of the Order of Malta for this kind invitation. It is an honor and a pleasure to be with you today. I would also like to thank the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ John Dunlap and the members of its Sovereign Council for having encouraged me to come to New York to speak to you today. I am grateful for their friendship and their prayerful support.

The Governorate of Vatican City State and the Knights of Malta have a long- standing collaborative relationship, particularly in the service they provide together during papal celebrations, the special events at the Papal Basilicas in Rome, and in caring for thousands of pilgrims who come to St. Peter’s Square every day. A year ago, in November 2024, the Knights of Malta donated a fully equipped ambulance reserved for any need that might have arisen during this Jubilee Year: a great gift to Vatican City State.

Through the years and more significantly during my term as Secretary General and as President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, I have met many Knights and Dames of Malta, whose kindness, dedication and generosity have deeply touched me. In May 2024 I was offered the opportunity to join some of you in Lourdes, and it was a very grace-filled time, a memorable experience.

The Knights of Malta, inspired by their Founder Blessed Gerard, are called to express a core dimension of the Church’s mission: the Christian compassion towards the sick and the suffering. This dimension shaped the pontificate of Pope Francis in many ways and now has been placed at the center of the pontificate under Pope Leo XIV.  This is clearly stated in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te (2025). Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV both strongly affirmed that our Christian call is to awaken us to recognize «the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor»[1]. This is essential because, in the words of Pope Leo XIV, «in this call to recognize him in the poor and the suffering, we see revealed the very heart of Christ, his deepest feelings and choices»[2]. This is the path to follow in our particular call to holiness.

The Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta are personally committed to this call. They actively participate in the Christian tradition of visiting the sick, washing their wounds, and comforting the afflicted.  This tradition is not simply a philanthropic endeavor, but – as Pope Leo XIV reminds us – it is an ecclesial action through which the members of the Church “touch the suffering flesh of Christ”[3].

Tonight, I stand here and rejoice with you, the new Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta. Your commitment is a witness to that ecclesial action. You are choosing to embrace that Christian tradition in a very practical way. Tonight, you are embarking on a new personal and communal journey.  You follow in the footsteps of many men and women who have been called to holiness in the Order of Malta through the centuries.  Tonight, I am honored to stand with you, the new Knights and Dames, in your commitment to defend the faith and assist the poor, at the heart of the Church’s mission.

In this Year of Jubilee, tonight you walk steadily as pilgrims of hope. You do this in a world that is complex and fragmented, torn by conflicts and disruptive paradoxes. You are pilgrims of hope because through your commitment to the Order of Malta as Knights and Dames, you say “yes” to reaffirm in your day-to-day engagements the transforming strength of integrity and dedication to a higher ideal.

You are pilgrims of hope because you are committing to living faithfully the vertical and horizontal dimensions of human relationships: with God, with others and with creation.

You are pilgrims of hope, because you make your commitment together. You know deep within yourselves the truth of what Pope Leo XIV told the youth at the beginning of his pontificate: «Our relationships with others are essential for each of us, starting with the fact that all men and women in the world are born as someone’s children. Our life begins with a bond, and it is through relationships that we grow»[4].

You are pilgrims of hope, because in knowing your own limitations, you are not afraid to embrace your own fragility and the fragility of others. You are choosing to act like the Good Samaritan and show compassion to the suffering person, rather than walk away. This is exactly the kind of person you want to be.

You are pilgrims of hope, because through those deep roots that connect your Order to Jerusalem and the Mysteries of the Holy Land, tonight you are determined to build bridges and be channels of peace. You are choosing to nurture unity wherever you are, facilitate reconciliation, and believe that forgiveness – as shown by Christ on the Cross – is the ultimate source of healing and redemption, stronger than death and source of “new beginnings”.

You are pilgrims of hope, because you are ready to meet people where they are. You are ready to search for that intimate core of goodness in every human being, to be found beneath the many layers that illness, sin, the choices we make, and the troubles of existence can bury in each one of us.

You are pilgrims of hope, because you are committed to building community and cultivating friendships founded on the good of the other.  You are open to sacrifice and self-giving, capable of breaking through the narrow boundaries of self-interest to pursue the common good and counteract the virus of individualism[5]. You are pilgrims of hope because you are convinced that your existence «is deeply tied to that of others: life is not simply time that passes; life is a time for interactions»[6]. 

You are pilgrims of hope, ready to serve and care for those entrusted to you. You have chosen solidarity over competition, because you know that in the footsteps of St. John the Baptist, you must decrease that Christ may increase. You are pilgrims who are not afraid to act and stand for what you believe. You may lose popularity, but you never lose hope.

You are pilgrims of hope, because you depend on prayer and grace to be who you are and do what you do. You know you do not possess what you have been given. You hold it in a spirit of poverty, because it is meant for the common good.

You are pilgrims of hope, because through your witness, the words of Pope Leo XIV at the beginning of his pontificate take a concrete shape for those who know you and see your works: «The Christian presence among the sick reveals that salvation is not an abstract idea, but concrete action. In the act of healing a wound, the Church proclaims that the Kingdom of God begins among the most vulnerable. In doing so […] she fulfills her deepest vocation: to love the Lord where he is most disfigured»[7].

As Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta you know you must cultivate your love and your deepest convictions through concrete action. As pilgrims of hope, you know you cannot remain in the realm of ideas and theories; rather you must give them expression through practical acts of charity[8].

You are pilgrims of hope, because you live Christian love, a love that breaks down barriers, draws those who are distant closer, unites strangers, reconciles enemies, penetrates society unconditionally, works miracles, and knows no limits[9]. You are pilgrims of hope because tonight you choose this type of love as «a way of looking at life and a way of living it»[10]. New Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta, tonight you are pilgrims of hope, because you are committed to being faithful members of a Church that sets no limits to love and fights no enemies, as Pope Leo XIV has asked. You are men and women who love. You are the Church the world needs today.[11]

May God bless you and your families. May Mary, Our Lady of Philermo, accompany you with Her maternal care every step of your new journey as pilgrims of hope.

Thank you.

[1] Leo XIV, Dilexi te, 3; cf. Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 186-216; Fratelli Tutti, 56-86.

[2] Ivi.

[3] Ivi, 49.

[4] Leo XIV, Dialogue with the young people during the Jubilee Vigil, August 2, 2025.

[5] Francis, Fratelli tutti, 105

[6] Ivi, 66.

[7] Leo XIV, Dilexi te, 52.

[8] Cf. Ivi, 119.

[9] Ivi.

[10] Ivi, 120.

[11] Cf. Ivi.