The Knights of Malta marked its 900th birthday
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The Knights of Malta, one of the most peculiar organizations in the world, marked its 900th birthday with a colorful procession through St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on February 9, 2013. A Mass in the basilica and an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, himself a member of the onetime chivalrous order drawn from Europe's nobility. Some 4,000 people, volunteers in neon orange civil protection suits, children in red berets and members each draped in a black cloak with a white, eight-pointed Maltese Cross on the front , processed through St. Peter's Square and into the basilica for the Mass marking the 900th anniversary of the order's recognition by the Holy See. The Knights are at once a Roman Catholic religious order, an aid group that runs soup kitchens, hospitals and ambulance services around the globe, and a sovereign entity that prints its own passports and enjoys diplomatic relations with 104 countries Photo by Eric Vandeville/ABACAPRESS.COM
2013-02-09
Vandeville Eric/ABACA/EAST NEWS
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Vandeville Eric
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