Vatican City, Feb 18, 2013 / 12:11 pm
As Pope Benedict XVI serves his last days in office, the head of the Knights of Malta paid tribute to him by describing the pontiff as "a marvelous person with a great sense of humor."
"I will remember him with great affection, and I think he is the most marvelous person," said the prince and grandmaster of the Order of Malta, Matthew Festing, of which Pope Benedict is also a member.
"He is very well informed, he has a great sense of humor, he is funny, he is extremely warm, he is immensely gentle and intelligent," Festing said in a Feb. 18 interview with CNA at the order's headquarters in Rome.
The Order of Malta, which issues its own international passports, postal stamps and coins, is a Catholic order comparable to a state but without land.