Knights of Malta head to quit

(ANSA) - Rome, January 25 - The head of the Knights of Malta, Fra' Matthew Festing, had agreed to Pope Francis' request for him to resign from his post, sources said Wednesday.
    He must now present his resignation to the supreme council of the Catholic lay religious order, which is expected to gather later on Wednesday or Thursday for the occasion.
    Festing, whose official title is Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), was asked to resign in relation to the December ouster of grand chancellor, Albrecht Freiherr, over revelations that the order's charity arm had distributed condoms in Myanmar under his watch.
    Freiherr's dismissal was reportedly backed by the conservative cardinal Raymond Burke, the pope's envoy to the order, against Francis' advice.
    The ouster led to a period of internal division within the order, culminating in Festing's meeting with the pope on Tuesday.
    SMOM, the smallest sovereign State in the world, runs a large charity-hospital organization around the world, and has recently provided humanitarian aid for countless refugees and migrants.
    The Knights of Malta, as they are more widely known, were founded on the Mediterranean in the 11th century as a military religious order like the Templars.
    They were removed from Malta by Napoleon.
    Headquartered in Palazzo Malta in Rome, their mission is summed up in their motto: "Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum"; protecting the Catholic Church and serving those in need.