On the evening of 19 June, the Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta hosted a reception on the terrace of St John’s Cavalier to mark the Feast of St John the Baptist, Patron Saint of the Order. The evening also celebrated the sixtieth anniversary since diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Malta and the Sovereign Order. The Ambassador was honored \u00a0with the presence of H.E. Myriam Spiteri Debono, President of Malta, who addressed the guests at the reception, as did H.E. Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau, Grand Commander of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.<\/p>\n
Following a brief introduction by the Ambassador, H.E. the Grand Commander expressed the gratitude and appreciation of the Order at being able to count on the fraternal and steadfast \u00a0support of the Head of State of the Maltese Republic, of the unique bond forged between the two States and the humanitarian values shared. Marking the sixtieth anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two, the Grand Commander traced a timeline from the very first Ambassador of the Order, \u00a0H.E. Dott. Dino Marrajeni, to the present day. He noted with great satisfaction that the relationship between the Sovereign Order and Malta had steadily flourished over the decades, as had the mutual respect between them.<\/p>\n
In her address, the President referred to the shared values of compassion and humanity uniting Malta and the Order of St John and acknowledged the vital humanitarian role that the Order continues to play today \u2014 particularly in support of women, children and the most vulnerable, in conflict zones around the world and wherever there is suffering and social hardship.<\/p>\n
The event brought together members of the Maltese Association led by their President H.E. Dr. Michael Grech to celebrate this important solemnity in the liturgical calendar. More than 170 guests attended.<\/p>\n
Among the distinguished guests were the Hon. Dr Owen Bonnici, Minister for Lands and Public Property, the Heads of Mission of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Russian Federation, Greece, India, Kuwait, Hungary, Qatar, Poland, Palestine and Libya, the Rector-Elect of the University of Malta, Prof. Frank Bezzina and the Commander of the Italian Military Mission in Malta.<\/p>\n","news_gallery":"yes","news_excerpt":"The Embassy marked the Feast of St John the Baptist and the sixtieth anniversary since diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Malta and the Sovereign Order with a reception at St John's Cavalier.","news_gallery_elements":[{"id":729,"url":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2026\/06\/presidente-1.jpg"},{"id":741,"url":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2026\/06\/speech-persone.jpg"},{"id":731,"url":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2026\/06\/reception-2-scaled.jpg"},{"id":733,"url":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2026\/06\/reception-3-scaled.jpg"},{"id":737,"url":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2026\/06\/reception-5-scaled.jpg"},{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2026\/06\/reception-4-scaled.jpg"}]},"news_categories":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":750,"href":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/725\/revisions\/750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}