Hellenic Republic President Katerina Sakellaropoulou hosted a lunch at the Presidential Mansion on Friday in honor of visiting Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospital Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, Fra’ John Dunlap, who is on his first official visit to Greece.
In her address, the Greek president pointed out that the Hellenic Republic and the Sovereign Military Hospital Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta may have established diplomatic relations only in December 2021, “but our historic and cultural ties date to the Middle Ages, in the greater Mediterranean region.”
These ties are now exemplified by Fra’ Dunlap’s interest in the protection of Rhodes island’s cultural heritage, she added, and his contribution to the restoration of a section at the Museum of the Palace of the Knights on Rhodes. The knights’ order is one of the historic institutions globally, with over 900 years of continuous contributions to people in need, Sakellaropoulou added.
The Grand Master said that the presence of the knights of St. John on Rhodes from 1310 to 1523 was decisive for the Order, and spoke of the efforts of the past three years to promote bilateral relations with Greece. On Saturday, he said, he would attend the official inauguration ceremony for the newly renovated permanent exhibition of the Order housed at the Palace of the Grand Master in Rhodes, which once provided the headquarters and housing for 20 Grand Masters.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
