Vatican City, May 4, 2018 / 04:06 am
Fifteen months after appointing Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu as his personal envoy to the Knights of Malta, Pope Francis extended the original mandate, requesting that the bishop stay in the post until the order has concluded its reform.
In a letter published May 4, Pope Francis thanked Becciu for his work, particularly in "meeting and listening attentively" to members of the order; and asked him to continue being the pope's "spokesperson" regarding relations between the Knights and the Holy See.
Pope Francis named Archbishop Becciu, substitute of the Secretariat of State since 2011, his personal delegate to oversee the "spiritual and moral" reform of the Order of Malta, with particular attention to the professed members, in February 2017.
Becciu's position as Special Delegate was intended to conclude with the election of the Knight's new Grand Master, which took place May 2 with the election of Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre, but Francis has chosen to extend the mandate indefinitely.