This morning, the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Fra’ John Dunlap, conferred the insignia of Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion on Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 23 April 2022.

After the conferral, Msgr. Andrea Ripa, Chief Chaplain of the Grand Priory of Rome, celebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of the Magistral Palace in Rome.

The ceremony was attended by the Grand Commander, Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau, the Grand Chancellor, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, the Grand Hospitaller, Fra’ Alessandro de Franciscis, the Receiver of the Common Treasure, Fabrizio Colonna, other members of the Sovereign Council and the Order of Malta’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Antonio Zanardi Landi. Also present were Msgr. Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos, the new Prelate of the Order of Malta.

In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis had sent Cardinal Michael Czerny on a mission to Ukraine with the Papal Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

Raised in Canada, Michael Czerny was ordained a priest on 9 June 1973 in the Society of Jesus. He obtained his doctorate in Humanities, Social Thought and Theology, an interdisciplinary studies programme, from the University of Chicago in 1978. He co-founded the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice in Toronto in 1979, and he was the first director until 1989. Since then he has held posts in El Salvador, Kenya, and Rome. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis on 5 October, 2019.