Our first announcement is the joyful news that on 10 August, Brother Ciriaco Nuin, in Zaragoza (Spain), celebrated his 101st birthday. He is currently the oldest Brother in the Order. Thank God, he is in good health, and a beautiful celebration had been prepared by the Brothers and Co-workers of the Hospital. We send him our heartiest congratulations and best wishes.

In September, in-presence meetings have resumed at the General Curia. Unfortunately, we are still in the pandemic, but with the proper precautions, we can now allow this type of meeting. On 3 August, a group of Provincials and Councillors of the Provinces of France, Portugal and Italy met to take up from where the June 19 Paris meeting had left off. The Brothers on the Europe Commission’s Working Group on the Hospitaller Religious Life met on Monday 13th, and on Tuesday 14th, a group of Brothers and Co-workers met to discuss the juridical structures of the Order.

The meeting of Major Superiors is scheduled to be held on 29 November to 3 December. We expect almost everyone to be able to attend and we will lay on an on-line link for those who are not yet able to travel due to the pandemic.

We hope to be able to continue holding these in-person meetings and to move the programmes forward. We shall also continue using the online links when necessary and for particular meetings.