Knights of the Order of St. John, Knights of Malta
International Headquarters:
700 S. Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
News Release October 15, 2014:
South Carolinian Knighted
On September 25, 2014, Lt. Col. Larkin Spivey U. S. Marine Corps (Ret.) was invested as a Knight of Malta at the Grand Master’s Palace in Rhodes, Greece. The Palace is one of the Order’s historic headquarters and is now a World Heritage Site. Eight other persons from the United States, Canada, and France were knighted during the historic ceremony, which has been performed in essentially the same manner for almost 1,000 years.
Lt. Col. Spivey was elected to the Order based on his distinguished military career in the United States Marine Corps and his present occupation as a Christian writer and speaker. He has written six books about God’s providential hand in American history and the power of faith among the men and women who have fought America’s wars. His work has been recognized by the Military Writers Society of America and the Stars and Flags Book Awards. His most recent book, A Skeptic’s Guide to God, features a forward by Maj. Gen. John Grinalds, past president of The Citadel.Spivey is a Citadel graduate and former Regimental Commander of the Corps of Cadets. He now resides in Myrtle Beach with his wife of forty three years, Lani, and their extended family.
When asked about this event, Spivey commented, “This is one of the great honors of my life. However, the Knights of Malta are not so much about bestowing honors as they are about strengthening the body of Christ in support of the Order’s worldwide humanitarian activities and its mission of defending the Christian faith.”
Officially titled the Knights Hospitallers of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, The Ecumentical Order, the organization is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida under the direction of Prince Grand Master Nicholas F. S. Papanicalaou. To learn more about the Knights, visit www.KnightsOSJ.com.
I am sorry to say that you have been thoroughly misled. Mr Papanicolaou has no connection with the genuine Order of Malta (whose sovereign extra-territorial headquarters, the Grand Magistery, is in Rome) which has reciprocal; diplomatic relations with 105 states (the most recent to have established relations is the Federal Republic of Germany). Mr Papanicolaou’s “Florida grand priory” was successfully sued by the genuine Orfer of Malta for the misuse of its symbols and name and there was also a recent Dutch court judgement against him. Perhaps see this site to understand what the real Order looks like: www.orderofmalta.int or this for the web site of the charitable arm of the British Royal Order of St. John - http://www.orderofstjohn.org or this for the main Order, https://www.stjohninternational.org/the-order and this for the German Order http://www.johanniter.de/ or this for the Dutch Order http://www.johanniter.nl or this for the Swedish Order http://johanniterorden.se/en/. These are the recognised Orders of St John and have nothing to do with Mr Papnicolaou’s so-called “Order”. The real Order of Malta is exclusively Roman Catholic with a handful of honorary non-Catholic members (mostly sovereigns and former sovereigns), the British Order is ecumenical, and the German (which has US members), Dutch and Swedish are exclusively Protestant. All are united against the many imitation Orders which claim a connection with the real Order of Malta and Orders of St. John.
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