Andrew Bertie
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Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie (born 15 May 1929) is the current (and first British) Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller.
His full title is His Most Eminent Highness Fra Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ.[citation needed] He has never married and has a younger brother. He is a distant relation to Queen Elizabeth II.
Fra Andrew was born in London, the son of the Hon. James Bertie (son of the 7th Earl of Abingdon) and Lady Jean Crichton-Stuart (the daughter of the Marquess of Bute). He was educated at the premier Catholic British school, Ampleforth College, and graduated in Modern History from Christ Church, Oxford. He also attended the School of Oriental and African Studies of the London University. From 1948 to 1950 he carried out military service in the Scots Guards, becoming a commissioned officer in 1949. After a short experience in the commercial sector, he taught modern languages (particularly French and Spanish) for twenty-three years at Worth Abbey School, a Benedictine Roman Catholic high school in Sussex, England.
Fra Andrew was admitted to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) in 1956; he took Perpetual Vows and in 1981 became a Religious member. He has contributed to the government of the Order since 1981 as a member of the Sovereign Council and in April 1988 he was elected the 78th Grand Master. He is Hospitaller of the Sanctuary of Lourdes. He succeeded the late Fra Angelo de Mojana, the distinguished Milanese nobleman who had served the Order as Grand Master since 1962 and accomplished a great deal of modernization to its organization.
Although it is considered sovereign, the Order of Malta is also a religious order of the Catholic Church, so this election needed the approval of the Pope (then John Paul II), which was obtained on 11 April 1988. By tradition, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta as a prince of the church takes precedence in the Roman Catholic hierarchy immediately following the most junior Cardinal of the Church.
The Council Complete of State of the Order of Malta, whose sole function is the election of the Grand Master, is composed of the Grand Priors and representatives of the Grand Priories, professed Regents of Sub-Priories, professed Bailiffs of the Order, professed members of the Sovereign Council, and twelve representatives of the forty-three National Associations of the Order throughout the world.
Assisted by various officers, the Grand Master oversees the numerous international charitable activities of the Order, which has observer status at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
| Preceded by: Angelo de Mojana di Cologna |
Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller 1988– |
Succeeded by: incumbent |
