Fra’ John Dunlap, a 66-year-old Canadian and the current Lieutenant of the Grand Master, has been elected as the 81st Grand Master and Prince of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He is the first Professed Knight from overseas to hold this position in the Order’s history. The Council Complete of State, the body responsible for electing the Grand Master, convened in the Magistral Villa in Rome and elected him with an absolute majority of votes from 99 voters representing 18 different countries.
Fra’ John Dunlap communicated his election to Pope Francis via a personal letter, and he will be sworn in today at 6.30 pm in the presence of Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi c.s., the Pope’s Special Delegate, in the Church of St. Mary on the Aventine. As per Article 13 of the new Constitution, he will hold this position for a period of ten years. The Grand Master is the head of the Order of Malta, which is both a lay religious order of the Catholic Church and a subject of international law.
In his address to the Council Complete of State, the new Grand Master expressed his gratitude for their trust and support, promising to serve with a deep spirit of commitment. He acknowledged the many challenges that lay ahead but stressed the importance of unity and cohesion in fulfilling the Order’s mission of “Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum” (witnessing the faith, helping the poor), as inspired by Blessed Gerard, the Order’s founder over 900 years ago.
Fra’ John Dunlap was born in Ottawa, Canada, on April 16, 1957. After completing his studies at Nice University, he graduated from the University of Ottawa and obtained a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Western Ontario. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in Public Service by John Cabot University in Rome. He is a member of the New York State Bar and the Ontario Bar Association in Canada and he joined the legal firm Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller in New York City. He has served as legal adviser to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations since 1997.
Fra’ John Dunlap found his religious vocation while volunteering with patients suffering from AIDS and other diseases at the Cardinal Cooke Medical Center in Harlem, New York, in the mid-1980s. He has been a volunteer at the hospital every week for the past 30 years. He was admitted to the Order of Malta in 1996 and took his solemn vows as a Professed Knight in 2008. He has served as Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Names and Emblems and Representative to the Alliance of the Orders of St John for over a decade.
As per Article 12 of the Constitution, the Grand Master is the head of the Order and holds the title of Most Eminent Highness, with sovereign prerogatives and honours. He must devote himself entirely to the Order’s growth and serve as an example of authentic Christian life for all members. The Grand Master, together with the Sovereign Council, is responsible for issuing legislative measures, promulgating government acts, and ratifying international agreements. The Grand Master resides at the Order of Malta’s government seat, the Magistral Palace in Rome, and the States with which the Order has diplomatic relations recognize him with the prerogatives, immunities, and honours reserved for Heads of State.
