Order of Malta Moment

In 2011 the Houston Region of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta decided that we needed a signature project where all of our members could use their time and talents to practice charity toward our neighbors, especially the poor and the sick. Few of our current projects at that time fully engaged our entire membership in fulfilling our mission as Knights and Dames of Malta.
Bob Signorelli, our previous Hospitaller, and Stephen Sleezer, our current Hospitaller, were instrumental in helping get this project started. Stephen recounted that, “We approached Catholic Charities and they presented their new facility, the Mamie George Community Center as such an opportunity. Initially, it didn’t seem like it was what we wanted because it was quite a distance to travel for some of our members. Furthermore, we had never had a project that would require so much monthly participation by members as well as involve so many additional volunteers outside of our membership. But after touring the facility, we knew this would be a very worthy project.”
A primary service at the Mamie George Community Service is the Community Food Fair, a component of the Basic Needs Services Program that offers supplemental food to Fort Bend Community residents who are in need of food, compassion, and encouragement. Many of the clients served are living below the poverty level with the largest age demographic representing individuals ages 18 -64 years; Hispanic families and individuals represent the highest ethnicity demographic with African American families and individuals following at second. In an effort to provide services beyond the brown paper bag of food items, the Center designed the food fairs to have an educational component covering topics like nutrition, disaster preparedness, financial literacy, and fair housing.
Ernest Lewis III, the Center Director for Catholic Charities, commented on the success of the project, “To effectively volunteer at the Community Food Fairs volunteers must understand our clients and be sensitive to their struggles and cultures. Knights and Dames of Malta realize this expectation and consistently provide good care to our clients. For each food fair, the group ensures that bi-lingual volunteers (Spanish and English) are present to assist with individuals with language barriers. This proves to be a huge help and brings comfort to our clients who speak little to no English. Not only do the Order’s dedicated members offer their time and faith, but also their expertise from diverse professional backgrounds and in-kind support. Through this partnership with the Order of Malta our work brings to life Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston – Houston’s vision statement – People of Faith, Helping People in Need Achieve Self- Sufficiency.”
Since the Order of Malta started this project in September 2011, we have managed 16 Food Fairs, distributed 156,626 pounds of food, including holiday turkeys and hams, and have had a positive impact on the lives of 3,667 families, benefitting approximately 12,749 individuals.
Each and every month we have 30-40 volunteers and in 2013, we will manage 12 Food Fairs, distribute an estimated 125,000 pounds of food to nearly 3,000 families, benefitting approximately 9,000 individuals. This project has allowed the Houston Region to work towards its goal of practicing charity toward our neighbors, especially the poor and the sick. - Bill Schoeffield

Question - What does the 900 year anniversary of the Papal Bull mean? What are we commemorating?
Answer - On February 15, 2013, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta will commemorate the 900th anniversary of its initial papal recognition in the sacred bull of Pope Paschal II, PIE POSTULATIO VOLUNTATIS. In that document the Holy Father set in course the juridical operation of the Order founded in the late eleventh century in Jerusalem by Blessed Brother Gerard.
Although the precise date of the foundation of Brother Gerard’s hospital has been lost to history, the institution was a thriving activity by the time of the European Crusaders’ arrival in the city in 1099, four short years after Pope Urban II had delivered the address to the assembled clergy in the Council at Clermont in France. Thus began the crusading movement that would dominate both papal and political policy in Europe for the next 200 years.
Concerned by growing reports of strife in the Holy Land, molestation of Christian pilgrims, and the reality of Christian vulnerability at the hands of Muslim Seljuk Turk invaders after the fall of the Byzantine army in the Battle of Manzikert in Asia Minor in 1071, Pope Urban articulated the need for an offensive to liberate the Holy Places from control by those who did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Pope Urban died in 1099, a few weeks after the Crusaders whom he had inspired had liberated the Holy City from Muslim control. At that time a Benedictine monk of the Cluniac tradition succeeded him, taking the name Paschal II. As with his recent predecessors, beginning with Saint Gregory VII, Pope Paschal faced growing problems with the Christian powers of Europe, a constant impediment to papal support for the Crusades.
In granting the bull of 1113, Pope Paschal not only cemented Brother Gerard’s establishment as a religious order of the Church, but also granted it the juridical independence that has made possible the service aspect of its mission to Our Lords, the Poor and the Sick that has been its hallmark for the past 900 years. - Henry Lane Hull, Federal Association Historian