Matthew Festing

Festing was the youngest of four sons born to Field Marshal Sir Francis Festing, Chief of the Imperial General Staff,{{cite news|last=Owen |first=Richard |title=Knights of Malta elect Englishman as new leader |work=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3531729.ece |date=11 March 2008 |access-date=11 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512011215/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3531729.ece |archive-date=12 May 2008 }} (Archived: 12 May 2008) a Roman Catholic convert who became a Knight of Malta, and Mary Cecilia (née Riddell), the elder daughter of Cuthbert David Giffard Riddell of Swinburne Castle, Northumberland. His father was the grandson of Colonel Sir Francis Worgan Festing. His mother was from an English recusant family, descending from the Throckmorton baronets and Blessed Sir Adrian Fortescue, martyred in 1539. His three elder brothers are John Festing (a former High Sheriff of Northumberland), Major Michael Festing, and Andrew Festing (formerly President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters).

Festing attended Ampleforth College, before going to St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in Modern History. He was sponsored by the British Army in the rank of second lieutenant on a university cadetship whilst at Cambridge before being commissioned, on 23 July 1971, as an Ensign in the Grenadier Guards; his personal number was 486330.{{London Gazette |issue=45465 |date=6 September 1971 |page=9657 |supp=y }} Until 2008, he was Sotheby's auction representative in Northumberland and held the rank of colonel in the Territorial Army.

Festing was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Northumberland in 1994{{LondonGazette|issue=53845|page=15750|date=10 November 1994}} and in the 1998 Birthday Honours was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He also served as the County Cadet Commandant of the Northumbria Army Cadet Force and was Patron of the Sandhurst Foundation and a Trustee of Northumbria Historic Churches.

Festing was admitted to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1977. In 1991, he took perpetual vows, becoming a Knight of Justice. From 1993 to 2008, he served as Grand Prior of England, the first in this office since 1815.

On 11 March 2008, Festing was elected Grand Master following a conclave-style meeting at the order's villa on the Aventine Hill in Rome. Only the third English Grand Master of the Order of Malta, he was the immediate successor to the second, Fra' Andrew Bertie, the first being Hugh de Revel from 1258 to 1277.

Festing and the Holy See had been in dispute since December 2016, when Festing had dismissed the Order's Grand Chancellor, Albrecht, Baron von Boeselager, for not adequately reporting on the distribution of contraceptives, including abortifacients, in a medical project for the poor. Von Boeselager was viewed as an obstacle to Raymond Cardinal Burke's vision of the order, while the German Grand Chancellor's reform-minded approach to the Order's governance clashed with that of Fra' Matthew. Festing revealed he consulted closely with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, including its then Prefect, Gerhard Cardinal Müller. Knights say the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was consulted about the case but never presented the Order with any documentation nor did they meet with the Grand Chancellor.{{cite web| url = https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8897/knights-of-malta-square-up-to-choose-new-leader| title = New revelations as Knights of Malta square up to choose new leader}}

Boeselager appealed to Pope Francis, who appointed a five-member commission to look into perceived judicial irregularities in the circumstances of the dismissal. Festing refused to cooperate, describing the commission as an illegitimate intervention in the Order's sovereign affairs, accusing its members of a conflict of interest, and setting up his own internal commission. The Vatican, in turn, rejected what it said was an attempt to discredit members of the commission and ordered the leaders of the institution to cooperate with the inquiry.{{cite web|last=Pullella |first=Philip |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-pope-knights-idUSKBN15901M |title=Knights of Malta head resigns after dispute with Vatican |publisher=Reuters |date=23 June 2016 |access-date=25 January 2017}}

In January 2017, Pope Francis asked Festing to resign, with the latter submitting his resignation on January 24.{{cite web|url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/25/fra-matthew-festing-convenes-sovereign-council-formalise-resignation-office-grand-master/|title=Fra' Matthew Festing convenes a Sovereign Council to formalise his resignation from the office of Grand Master - Order of Malta|date=25 January 2017|website=Orderofmalta.int|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=28 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128214357/https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/25/fra-matthew-festing-convenes-sovereign-council-formalise-resignation-office-grand-master/|url-status=dead}}"[https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/28/grand-master-fra-matthew-festing-resigns-office/ The Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing resigns from office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127153430/https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/28/grand-master-fra-matthew-festing-resigns-office/ |date=27 January 2018 }}" (Order of Malta, 28 January 2017) Cardinal Burke, the patron of the Order, tried to convince Festing to withdraw his resignation and keep fighting the Vatican.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} On 28 January 2017, the Order's Sovereign Council accepted Festing's resignation and re-instated Boeselager. Fra' Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein was chosen as Lieutenant ad interim and presided over the Sovereign Council that annulled the decrees establishing the disciplinary procedures against Boeselager as well as the suspension of his membership in the Order. Boeselager resumed his office as Grand Chancellor immediately.{{cite web|url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/28/grand-master-fra-matthew-festing-resigns-office/|title=The Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing resigns from office|date=28 January 2017|website=Orderofmalta.int|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127153430/https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/01/28/grand-master-fra-matthew-festing-resigns-office/|url-status=dead}}

In April 2017, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the temporary papal delegate to the Order, instructed Festing not to travel to Rome for the election of his successor. He wrote that many of the Order had "expressed their wish" that Festing not travel to Rome for the election as they felt his presence would "reopen wounds" and prevent a return to harmony.{{cite web|url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/vatican-orders-matthew-festing-not-to-travel-to-rome-for-order-of-malta-ele|title=Vatican Orders Matthew Festing Not to Travel to Rome for Order of Malta Election|website=Ncregister.com|date=18 April 2017 |access-date=20 November 2017}} As it appeared that Festing ignored this order and arrived in Rome just before the meeting to elect a new Grand Master, the Vatican reconsidered and annulled the order. According to sources within the Order, this was because his absence as a professed knight could have invalidated the ballot.{{cite web|url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/vatican-reverses-decision-allows-festing-to-take-part-in-order-of-malta-ele|title=Vatican Reverses Decision, Allows Festing to Take Part in Order of Malta Election|website=Ncregsiter.com|date=26 April 2017 |access-date=20 November 2017}}

Festing suddenly collapsed after attending the profession of vows of Fra' Francis Vassallo, in Saint John's Co-Cathedral of Valletta on 4 November 2021. He died eight days later at hospital at the age of 71.{{Cite web |url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/2021/11/12/grand-magistry-announces-death-79th-grand-master-fra-matthew-festing/ |title=Grand Magistry announces death of the 79th Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing |access-date=12 November 2021 |archive-date=12 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112200439/https://www.orderofmalta.int/2021/11/12/grand-magistry-announces-death-79th-grand-master-fra-matthew-festing/ |url-status=dead }} His funeral Mass took place on 3 December at Saint John's Co-Cathedral, presided over by cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi and then he was buried in the crypt of that church next to his predecessors.

{{ahnentafel

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|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

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|1= 1. Matthew Festing

|2= 2. Francis Festing

|3= 3. Mary Cecilia Riddell

|4= 4. Francis Leycester Festing

|5= 5. Charlotte Katherine Grindall Festing

|6= 6. Cuthbert David Giffard Riddell

|7= 7. Evelyn Mary Liddell

|8= 8. Francis Worgan Festing

|9= 9. Selina Eleanor Mary Carbonell

|10= 10. Henry Blathwayt Festing

|11= 11. Mary Eliza Todd

|12= 12. John Giffard Riddell

|13= 13. Victoria Henrietta Purcell

|14= 14. Matthew Liddell

|15= 15. Hannah Delaval Adamson

}}

File:Coat of Arms of Fra' Robert Matthew Festing (Order of Isabella the Catholic).svg (Spain)]]

• {{flag|Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}:
• 45px Bailiff Grand Prior (2017)
• 45px Grand Master (2008-2017)
• 45px Bailiff (1991)
• 45px Knight (1977)
• {{MilAward Desc|OBEO|45px}} (12 June 1998)
• {{MilAward Desc|GCStJ|45px}} (5 May 2009){{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-59053-809107 |title=Order of St John |website=Thegazette.co.uk |date=5 May 2009 |access-date=25 January 2017}}
• 45px Territorial Decoration (TD) (1991)
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• 45px Knight Grand Cross with Collar Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (27 October 2008)
• 45px Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (6 February 2009){{cite journal|journal=Magyar Közlöny|title=Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary|year=2009|issue=17}}
• 45px Grand Cross of the Order of St. Charles (14 October 2009)Nomination by [http://www.legimonaco.mc/Dataweb/jourmon.nsf/100ab120e52ceb84c12568ce002f2909/d2b32224bccbb96bc1257651002c635d!OpenDocument Sovereign Ordonnance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182138/http://www.legimonaco.mc/Dataweb/jourmon.nsf/100ab120e52ceb84c12568ce002f2909/d2b32224bccbb96bc1257651002c635d!OpenDocument |date=3 March 2016 }} n°2405 of 14 October 2009 (French)
• 45px Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (23 November 2010)
• 45px Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2012){{cite web | url = http://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXIV/AB/AB_10542/imfname_251156.pdf | title = Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour | language = de | page=1923 | access-date = 13 January 2013}}
• 45px Member of the Grand Order of King Tomislav (12 October 2008)
• 45px Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (Franco-Neapolitan branch):[http://www.ordinecostantiniano.it/the-sovereign-military-order-of-malta/?lang=en The Constantinian Order and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta] - website of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George[http://www.constantinian.org.uk/members-of-the-sacred-military-constantinian-order-of-saint-george/ Members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George] - website of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland
• Bailiff Grand Cross of Justice with the Collar (2010)
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• Knight of Justice (1991)
• 45px Knight of the Order of St Januarius (2010)
• {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} House of Romanov:
• 45px Knight of the Order of St. Andrew (2014){{cite web|url=http://saintanna.ru/?id=6&id_news=25&lang=rus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420091649/http://saintanna.ru/?id=6&id_news=25&lang=rus|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 April 2014|title=Новости|publisher=Saintanna.ru|access-date=23 April 2014}}
• 45px Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (2014)
• 45px Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (2014)
• 45px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Anna (2014)
• 45px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stanislaus (2014)
• 45px Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Holy Military Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr{{cite web|url=http://www.granducato.org/ruoli-eng.html |title= Sacro Militare Ordine di Santo Stefano Papa e Martire |website=Granducato.org |access-date=22 February 2015}}
• 45px Grand Collar of the Order of Sikatuna, Rank of Raja (3 March 2015) {{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2015/03/03/statement-of-president-aquino-during-the-courtesy-call-of-fra-festing-of-the-order-malta/ |title=Statement of President Aquino during the courtesy call of Fra' Festing of the Order of Malta | Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |website=Gov.ph |date=3 March 2015 |access-date=25 January 2017}}
• File:CYP Order of Makarios III ribbon.svg Grand Collar Of the Order of Makarios III (25 October 2012)
• 45px Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (31 July 2015){{cite web|title=Real Decreto 754/2015, de 31 de julio, por el que se concede el Collar de la Orden de Isabel la Católica a Su Alteza Eminentísima Frey Matthew Festing, Príncipe y Gran Maestre de la Soberana Orden Militar de Malta|url=http://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2015-8692|publisher=Boletin Oficial del Estado|access-date=26 December 2015|ref=BOE-A-2015-8692}}

• 45px National Flag Order (Albania) (2015)

• 35px Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Northumberland

• Honorary Freeman of the City of Rapallo (Italy, 18 September 2008){{cite web|url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/2008/09/18/the-grand-master-honorary-citizen-of-rapallo/|title=The Grand Master honorary citizen of Rapallo - Order of Malta|date=18 September 2008|website=Orderofmalta.int|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=21 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221112632/http://www.orderofmalta.int/2008/09/18/the-grand-master-honorary-citizen-of-rapallo/|url-status=dead}}
• Pompeii, Italy
• Birgu, Malta

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.ft.com/content/815e74c4-32ea-11e6-bda0-04585c31b153 Hannah Roberts, "Matthew Festing, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta", Financial Times, 22 June 2016]
• Constantin Magnis: Gefallene Ritter. Malteserorden und Vatikan - Der Machtkampf zwischen zwei der ältesten Institutionen der Welt. HarperCollins 2020. {{ISBN|978-3-95967-368-6}}.

• [https://www.orderofmalta.int/ Official website of the Sovereign Order of Malta]

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{{s-bef|before=Giacomo dalla Torre
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{{s-ttl|title=Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta|years=2008–2017}}

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{{Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Festing, Matthew}}

Category:1949 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Category:Deputy lieutenants of Northumberland

Category:English Roman Catholics

Matthew

Matthew

Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles

Category:Grand Collars of the Order of Saint James of the Sword

Category:Grenadier Guards officers

Category:Knights of Malta

Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People educated at Ampleforth College

Category:People from Northumberland

Category:Princes and grand masters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Category:First Class of the Order of the Star of Romania

Category:Burials at Saint John's Co-Cathedral

Category:Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John