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ACU’s Melbourne Campus recently hosted the Order of Malta’s biannual National Assembly bringing together hundreds of members, clergy, and dignitaries for a weekend of prayer, reflection, and fellowship.
Held across multiple venues, including the Mother Teresa of Kolkata Building at Melbourne Campus, the national gathering included formal meetings, lectures, liturgies, and investitures of new Knights and Dames into the lay religious order.
ACU Vice-Chancellor Professor Zlatko Skrbis welcomed delegates on Friday 22 June, emphasising the university’s support of the Sovereign Order since partnering in 2021.
“The Order of Malta’s unwavering commitment to faith and service echoes the mission of Australian Catholic University to uphold the dignity of the human person and the common good. It is a privilege to host this national gathering,” Professor Skrbis said.
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Associate Professor Darius von Guttner, who is leading research into the history of the Order of Malta, also gave a keynote lecture on the first day of the Assembly.
Drawing on the Order’s nearly millennium-long legacy, Associate Professor von Guttner reflected on how historical memory should guide the present mission of the charitable organisation.
“We must understand the members of the Order not just as bearers of tradition but as agents of fidelity. For the Order, history is not nostalgia; it is vocation,” he said.
Reflecting further on the significance of ACU’s partnership with the Order of Malta, Associate Professor von Guttner said the collaboration “was more than institutional”.
“This collaboration is more than institutional, it is spiritual. Both ACU and the Order form people in service. Through study and through charity, we cultivate the same virtues: justice, humility, and courage,” he said.
Professor Skrbis said ACU would continue its commitment to supporting the Order of Malta’s mission to defend the faith and serve the poor.
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“In education, as in the works of mercy, our shared task is the transformation of the world through love and reason. This Assembly has been a witness to that shared vocation.”
Since signing a partnership agreement in 2021 to enhance community engagement, ACU and the Sovereign Order of Malta have collaborated on initiatives including a co-led Community Hub in Melbourne. ACU also bestowed an Honorary Doctorate on the Order of Malta Grand Master, His Most Eminent Highness Fra' John T. Dunlap, in November 2024.
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