Pope Francis has appointed Spanish priest Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos (57) as the new ecclesiastical superior of the clergy in the Order of Malta. The Vatican press office announced this on Thursday.
The birthplace of Jesus is also currently suffering from the conflict in the Middle East, as the ambassador of the Order of Malta in Palestine, Michéle Burke Bowe, informed Vatican Radio. …
As prelate, Cuña Ramos participates in meetings of the Government Advisory Council and presents reports on the spiritual situation of the order in each general chapter. The Spanish priest was born in Ourense (Galicia) in 1966 and lived in Italy for a long time. Cuña Ramos completed his doctorate in Church history and archival studies in Rome, where he worked for almost 25 years in the Propaganda Fide archive, which is part of the Vatican Archives. The Church historian has been an advisor to the canonization authority at the Vatican since 2012. Since 2013 he has served in the Order of Malta as master chaplain and parish priest.
Cuña Ramos' predecessor is the French titular bishop Jean Laffitte (71), appointed prelate of the chivalric order by Pope Francis in 2015. Upon leaving, he said it was “a joy and an honor” to serve the Order for more than eight years.
Subject to the Holy See
As a Catholic order, the Order of Malta is subject to the Holy See under canon law. At the same time, politically, it is a separate subject from international law. This status gives it unique access to political and diplomatic levels and is intended to allow particular independence in conflicts. The order currently maintains diplomatic relations with 113 states. Due to internal conflicts, Pope Francis gave the order of knights a new constitution in 2022 in order to reorganize the relationship between the order and the Holy See. In June, Francis named Jesuit Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda (81) as the new patron of the Order of Malta. Ghirlanda is one of Pope Francis' closest confidants and legal advisors and, in his role as patron, the Pope's representative to the Maltese.
(Vatican news/kap – vn)