On November 8, 2020, Fra’ Marco Luzzago was elected by a large majority Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta. The State Task Council, the elective organism, met on November 7 and 8 in Rome’s Magistral Villa, one of the two institutional venues of the Order of Malta. All the phases of the election were carried out in full respect of the anti-COVID measures.

There were 44 participants in the State Task Council out of 56 entitled to vote. They arrived in Rome from Argentina, Peru, the United States, Lebanon, France, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Holland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Malta, as well as from Italy.

The newly elected to the top of the Sovereign Order of Malta will take the oath this afternoon before the members of the State Task Council and the Pope’s Special Delegate, Cardinal Elect Silvano Maria Tomasi.

Fra’ Marco Luzzago succeeds Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, Prince and 80th Grand Master who died last April 29.

Pope Francis was informed of the election in a letter. Informed subsequently were all the Grand Priories, and Sub Priories and the National Associations of the Order of Malta in the world, as well as the 110 States with which the Sovereign Order of Malta maintains diplomatic relations.

Addressing the members of the State Task Council, the Grand Master’s Lieutenant — who will remain in office a year — affirmed: “the Holy Spirit has kindly turned His gaze on me. I thank each one of you for having placed your trust in my person and for having demonstrated with your presence here today, a great love and a great dedication for our Order. On my part, I can only assure you of my greatest commitment to address the challenges that await us in the next months. In the first place, the reform of the Constitutional Charter and of the Code carried forward with so much force by our late Fra’ Giacomo, to whom my heartfelt thought goes at this moment.

Profile of the Lieutenant

Fra Marco Luzzago

 Born in Brescia in 1950, Fra’ Marco Luzzago after receiving the Scientific High School Diploma from the Franciscan Friars, studied Medicine for several years at the Universities of Padua and Parma before being called to manage family affairs. He managed commercial activities in the consumer goods industry and in the field of large distribution, a sector in which he worked for many years.

Marco Luzzago entered the Sovereign Order of Malta in 1975 in the Grand Priory of Lombardy and Venice and he made his solemn religious vows in 2003. He took part in international pilgrimages of the Order of Malta to Lourdes and national pilgrimages to Assisi and Loreto. Since 2010 he has dedicated his life completely to the Order of Malta, moving to the Marches to take care of one of the Order’s Commanderies.

Since 2011 he has been Commander of Justice in the Grand Priory of Rome where he holds the office of Delegate of the North Marches and is responsible for the Library. Since 2017 he has been an adviser of the Italian Association of the Order of Malta. Fra Marco Luzzago is a relative of Pope Paul VI.

The Grand Master’s Lieutenant

 According to the Order of Malta’s Constitution, the Grand Master‘s Lieutenant remains in charge for a year with the same powers of a Grand Master. The Grand Master’s Lieutenant must reconvene the State Task Council before the end of his mandate.

The Grand Master’s Lieutenant must dedicate himself fully to the increase of the Order’s works and be an example of religious observance for all the members. He has supreme authority. Together with the Sovereign Council, he issues legislative measures not provided for in the Constitutional Charter, promulgates acts of the government, and ratifies international agreements.

The Grand Master’s Lieutenant resides at the headquarters of the Order of Malta, the Magistral Palace in Rome.

Translation by Virginia M. Forrester

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