the Crusaders are back in the Vatican on
Saturday thousands of members of the
medieval order of the Knights of Malta
celebrated their 900th anniversary
founded in the 12th century as a
military order of the Catholic Church
they tasked themselves with protecting
Christian pilgrims from Muslim attacks
earning them a feared reputation but
following the Crusades they reinvented
themselves and are now an international
humanitarian organization the mission of
this Knights has only changed in scale
that were founded to treat for pilgrims
in the Holy Land
today they run soup kitchens and
hospitals in 120 countries they say they
went from a small band of Crusaders to
knights in shining armor for the world's
poor a pure fading it causes a shakily
emember
Benedict 16 thanked the order for the
charitable work during a mass held in
Saint Peter's Basilica but while they
are praised in the Catholic Church they
are still trying hard to get rid of
their reputation as an exclusive
aristocrats club if you consider that
there are something like 1000 volunteers
who operate in the Order of Malta and
they are able to move in any place of
the world to provide the support and
assistance to the problem like the
tsunami like they had cakes things of
this type you can imagine what this a
very formidable organization behind all
that later on Saturday the thousands of
knights drop their official regalia and
went back to fight their personal
crusade against poverty cloud Allah
Vanga al jazeera Vatican City