ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL  II
TO HIS MOST EMINENT HIGHNESS
FRA ANDREW BERTIE,
PRINCE AND GRAND MASTER
OF THE SOVEREIGN ORDER OF MALTA

Tuesday, 22 June 2004 

Your Highness,

I am particularly pleased to welcome you and I thank you for your visit, which gives me an opportunity to repeat the esteem and gratitude I feel towards the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. I cordially greet you and extend my affectionate thoughts to those who have kindly accompanied you.

I willingly make the most of this occasion to convey my greeting to all the members of this worthy Institution who work in various parts of the world. The Holy See appreciates the many services it renders to the cause of evangelization and, in particular, the numerous beneficial initiatives that it constantly promotes for the needy.

I gladly assure you of my remembrance in prayer so that God, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, will bless every good work of your Sodality, as I encourage you to persevere with generosity on your journey of fidelity to Christ and to his Church.

With these sentiments, I warmly impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you, to your collaborators and to the entire Sovereign Military Order of Malta.