Bio: John Dunlap, new Grand Master of Order of Malta

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 3 - Born in Ottawa, Canada, on April 16, 1957, John Dunlap, after studying at the University of Nice, graduated from Ottawa University and became a doctor in law at the University of Western Ontario. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate in public administration by the John Cabot University in Rome.
    Fra' John Dunlap is a member of the lawyers guild in New York State and also that of the Canadian province of Ontario. In 1986 he started with the legal firm of Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller in New York, becoming a partner in 1993. He specialised in company and immigration law. An internationally respected lawyer, since 1997 he has been a legal consultant to the Mission of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations.
    Fra' Dunlap's approach to the Order of Malta and his discovery of a religious vocation began with his volunteering with patients affected by AIDS and other pathologies at the Cardinal Cooke Medical Center of Harlem (New York) halfway through the 1980s. He has served in that same hospital every week of the last 30 years.
    Admitted to the Order of Malta in 1996, he issued his solemn vows as Professed Knight in 2008. For over a decade he served the Order of Malta as Chair of the Committee for the protection of names and emblems and Representative at the Alliance of the Orders of St John.
    In 2009 Fra' Dunlap was elected to a five year term as member of the Sovereign Council. He was re-elected for another five years by the General Chapter in 2014 and then again in 2019. Since June 2022, following the death of Fra' Marco Luzzago, he has been at the top of the Order of Malta as Lieutenant to the Grand Master.
    According to Article 12 of its Constitution, the Grand Master is the head of the Order and he has its prerogatives and sovereign honours as well as the title of Most Eminent Highness. He must dedicate himself fully to increasing the Maltese works and being an example of an authentic Christian life for all the members (article 106 of the Code).
    It is up to the Grand Master, together with the Sovereign Council, to issue legislative measures not envisaged by the Constitutional Charter, to promulgate acts of government and ratify international accords. He administrates, through the Receiver of the Common Treasure, the assets of the Order and convenes the Chapter of the Professed and the General Chapter.
    The States with which the Sovereign Military Order of Malta entertains diplomatic relations recognise to the Grand Master the prerogatives, immunities and honours befitting Heads of States.
    The Grand Master resides in the seat of government of the Order of Malta, the Magisterial Palace in Rome. (ANSA).