Matthew Festing

Fra ' Matthew Festing, OBE ( born November 30, 1949 in Northumberland, England, as Robert Matthew Festing ) of 11 March 2008 has been elected for life 79th Grand Master of the Order of Malta. Its full title is " His Most Eminent Highness Fra 'Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ".

Family

Matthew Festing grew up in Egypt, Malta and Singapore, where his father, Sir Francis Festing, was until 1961 as the senior British officer last of 1958 as Field Marshal and Chief of the Imperial General Staff, works. His mother is Mary Cecilia, eldest daughter of Cuthbert David Giffard Riddell, Swinburne Castle, Northumberland.

He comes from the Blessed Adrian Fortescue from ( a cousin of Thomas Boleyn ), who suffered as a Knight of Malta in 1539 as a martyr in the Tower of London.

Life

School and studied at Ampleforth College Festing on the Benedictines in York and at St. John 's College, Cambridge, where he received his doctorate in history. His military service he completed in the Grenadier Guards and holds the rank of colonel of the reserve. He then worked as an art expert in an international auction house.

At times, Festing was Deputy Lieutenant of Queen Elizabeth II in the county of Northumberland.

Religious Life

Festing was included in the Sovereign Order of Malta in 1977 and 1991 laid the perpetual vows. He was professed knights and monks in the sense of canon law. Until his election as Grand Master he was since 1993 the first Grand Prior since the Reformation of 1993 re-established the Grand Priory of England. In this role, he led humanitarian relief operations in Kosovo Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, and sick and annual pilgrimages of the Delegation of the United Kingdom to Lourdes.

Fra ' Matthew was from the Grand Council of State, which met in the Magistral of the Order on the Aventine Hill in Rome, elected on 11 March 2008. After the election and the acceptance of the election put the new Grand Master of the Grand Council of State and the Cardinal Patronus of the Order, Cardinal Pio Laghi, the oath and had therefore taken office.

Honors and Awards

  • 1998: Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE)
  • 2008: Grand Cross with Collar of the Star of Romania
  • 2008: Honorary Citizen of Rapallo
  • 2008: Grand Cross of the Order of Three -star
  • 2009: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Charles
  • 2009: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
  • 2009: Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
  • 2009: Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the Catholic University of America
  • 2010: Collar of the Order of St. James of the Sword
  • 2011: Path to Peace Award
  • 2012: Great Star of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
  • 2012: Matteo Ricci Award of the Catholic University of Milan
Friar Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom) Adrian Fortescue (martyr) Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire Order of Saint Benedict Reservist Bosnia (region) Order of the Three Stars Order of Saint-Charles Collar (Order of Knighthood) Order of Saint James of the Sword Andrew Bertie
349505
de