Commemoration of Grandmaster Hompesch in Bonn

Malta's Ambassador in Bonn, Carmel J. Aquilina, and Mrs. Aquilina, participated last Sunday, 16 November, in the Commemoration, by the German Association of the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta, of the 200th anniversary of the election of Ferdinand von Hompesch to Grandmaster of the Order of St. John. The commemoration took place at the Order's Malteser Krankenhaus (Hospital) in Bonn with the celebration of Mass in the Chapel, followed by a reception and a lecture on Hompesch delivered by Prof. Walter Rodel, of the University of Mainz.

Ambassador Aquilina, who made the concluding remarks, said that Hompesch belonged to the Order, to Malta and to Germany and as such he provided a link between the three. Ambassador Aquilina informed the gathering about the commemoration activities taking place in Malta to mark this anniversary and the on-going historical re-assessment of the Grandmaster's brief reign and of the turbulent times in which he lived.

The Ambassador also spoke of the rich heritage left by the Order of St. John in Malta and the good, friendly relations existing between Malta and the Order, which could be further developed in the years to come.