Es la más grande orden caballeresca de la Iglesia, nacida en torno al 1050 y con los siglos poseedora de un estatus inigualable dentro de la institución. Ahora vive uno de sus momentos más difíciles, que se sintetiza en un gran dossier sobre la mesa de trabajo del papa León XIV que puede llevar a una intervención de la Orden de Malta.

Los problemas no son nuevos y motivaron una intervención del papa argentino Francisco, que aprobó una nueva constitución en 2022. En estos casi cuatro años no se ha resuelto la cuestión más importante, que es la transformación de la antigua orden caballeresca en una orden religiosa a todos los efectos, una vieja aspiración dentro de la Orden.

Ahora el Gran Maestro, el canadiense John Dunlap, es el principal acusado de no haber puesto en marcha la transformación de la orden caballeresca en una orden espiritual a todos los efectos, con el nuevo espíritu de la Constitución. También se debía construir un monasterio para hospedar a los profesos destinados a ser consagrados frailes con la aceptación definitiva de los votos de pobreza, castidad y obediencia.

El objetivo era obligar a los profesos a hacer vida en común como en las órdenes religiosas. El papa argentino Jorge Bergoglio consideraba que el convento y la vida espiritual eran fundamentales para salvar a la Orden de Malta.

Hasta hoy nada ocurrió y no faltan las acusaciones contra el Gran Maestro John Dunlap de no cumplir lo prometido. Dunlap ha sido convocado por el papa al Palacio Apostólico Vaticano para «aclaraciones definitivas» que serían seguidas por procedimientos de fondo.

Otros temas no resueltos son la decisión de cerrar a fines de este año el ambulatorio originalmente destinado a los pobres, situado en el palacio sede de la Orden de Malta, en el centro de Roma. Los dirigentes alegan que los ambulatorios cuestan demasiado.

Las quejas se refieren también a varias sedes de las embajadas de la Orden de Malta, denunciadas por los nuncios apostólicos pontificios. En particular se refieren a una «falta de coherencia» respecto a los principios básicos de la vida religiosa.

Muchos recuerdan que las herencias millonarias de dudosa procedencia y otros escándalos, incluidos los hospitales africanos en los que se habrían practicado abortos en total desprecio por la doctrina de la Iglesia, obligaron finalmente en 2016 al Gran Maestro Matthew Festing a renunciar.

Festing quería convertir en verdaderos monjes a los profesantes, obligándolos a vivir en monasterios. El papa argentino Francisco debió disolver la congregación de los caballeros alemanes y en 2022 aprobó finalmente la reforma constitucional. Pero los grandes problemas y también los otros siguen sin resolver, y es el actual pontífice, llegado hace menos de un año, el encargado de solucionarlos.

El 1 de diciembre de 2016, el papa Jorge Bergoglio nombró al arzobispo Giovanni Becciu como su representante personal ante la Orden. En mayo de 2017, la Orden nombró al boliviano Mauro Bertero Gutiérrez para guiar el proceso de reforma constitucional. También prorrogó el mandato del después cardenal Giovanni Becciu por tiempo indeterminado.

El 10 de junio de 2023, el papa Francisco nombró al cardenal Gianfranco Ghirlanda sucesor de Becciu como patrono de la Orden. La Orden de Malta es singular: reconocida internacionalmente, posee su propia bandera, una constitución, un jefe de Estado, y emite pasaportes y sellos. Mantiene relaciones diplomáticas con cien estados y participa en las organizaciones internacionales, empezando por las Naciones Unidas.

Los críticos sostienen la necesidad de dar un gran impulso, de una buena vez, a los aspectos espirituales y religiosos. El 3 de mayo de 2023, fray John Timothy Dunlap fue elegido Gran Maestre de la Orden por un período de diez años.

La Orden tiene una historia extraordinaria, inigualada en la Iglesia. Sus orígenes se remontan a las antiguas confraternidades medievales de cristianos, laicos y monjes que hospedaban a los peregrinos que llegaban a Jerusalén, entonces dominada por los árabes.

Tras la Primera Cruzada, Jerusalén se convirtió en la capital de un reino latino y los hospitalarios recibieron cuantiosos fondos y donaciones de los cruzados y los peregrinos. En este ambiente extraordinario prosperó la Orden de Malta, que debió abandonar Tierra Santa en 1530 para trasladarse, tras tomar posesión, a la isla de Malta.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal watchdog has been forced to pause a significant chunk of its oversight of immigration enforcement as Democrats continue to withhold support for funding the Cabinet-level agency.

A spokesperson for the DHS office of the inspector general (OIG) told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that most of its audits and inspections have had to be paused during the partial government shutdown, including many dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Democrats have called for stricter oversight of ICE since President Donald Trump surged federal law enforcement agents to blue cities across the country in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration.

But at least seven of the internal DHS probes into ICE conduct have been suspended after Democrats walked away from a bipartisan deal to fund the department, plunging it into a shutdown.

REPUBLICANS WARN DEMOCRATS’ ICE REFORM PUSH IS COVER TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT

«Most of OIG’s audits, inspections, and similar reviews… are paused during the lapse in appropriations. A small number of OIG audits related to disaster relief continue because they are supported by an extant appropriation,» the spokesperson said.

«OIG’s Criminal Investigators are excepted from furlough and are continuing their work during the lapse. OIG does not publicly confirm or deny the existence of any particular criminal investigation.»

Probes that have been paused include determining «whether ICE investigates allegations of use of excessive force and holds personnel accountable» and conducting «unannounced inspections to assess compliance with ICE detention standards and ensure safe, secure, and humane conditions of confinement,» according to the spokesperson.

GOVERNMENT TO SHUT DOWN AT MIDNIGHT AFTER DEMS, WHITE HOUSE FAIL TO STRIKE DHS DEAL

An investigation into whether Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are conducting domestic U.S. operations in accordance with DHS policies and federal law has also been halted.

A screen grab from a video shows a law enforcement officer spraying irritants at Alex Pretti before he was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026. (Reuters)

The CBP probe is notable given it was CBP agents who shot and killed nurse Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen, during an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis last month.

Democrats had called for investigations and stricter guardrails after the incident took place.

FEDERAL JUDGE TEMPORARILY LIFTS DHS RESTRICTIONS ON LAWMAKER VISITS TO DETENTION FACILITIES

But Pretti’s killing, along with the ICE-involved killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, were two of the main catalysts that Democrats said drove them away from an earlier bipartisan deal struck on funding DHS for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The original DHS funding bill, which passed the House but failed in the Senate, included new mandatory training requirements for ICE and a mandate for body cameras for federal law enforcement.

Democratic leaders have said that was not enough, however, and have rejected another compromise offer sent by the White House in recent days.

ICE agents conduct immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, Jan. 28, 2026. (Madison Thorn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Democrats reportedly sent back their own counteroffer to Republicans this week, but there appears to be little movement on either side toward an agreement.

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Two of Democrats’ biggest demands, requiring judicial warrants to execute ICE enforcement action and banning masks for ICE agents while requiring clearly accessible identification, have been panned as non-starters by Republicans.

In addition to affecting ICE oversight, a lengthy DHS shutdown also threatens funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among other offices within DHS.

Arguing that noncitizens could be on state voter rolls — something that is illegal under federal law — the Trump administration is escalating its campaign to obtain registration data ahead of the 2026 midterms, despite a string of federal court setbacks.

The strategy has unfolded on three fronts: cooperation from Republican-led states willing to share voter data, lawsuits against roughly two dozen blue and purple states that have refused, and a legislative push in Congress to tighten national voting requirements. Federal judges have so far rebuffed the administration’s legal demands, but the Justice Department is widening its campaign as Election Day draws near. 

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the conservative group Advancing American Freedom, said voter rolls are a central focus ahead of the midterms because of the Trump administration’s concerns that noncitizens are on them and could end up voting. It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

«The problem is, blue states, like Oregon, they have no interest in that kind of verification, so they’re not actually doing what they ought to be doing, which is running data-based comparisons with the [Department of Homeland Security],» von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital.

DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE AS 73,000 NORTH CAROLINA VOTERS WITHOUT PROPER ID STAY ON ROLLS

The DOJ has made sweeping demands for not just publicly available voter roll data, but also sensitive information, such as voters’ partial Social Security numbers and dates of birth.

The latest state to successfully fight the DOJ’s request is Michigan, where Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the federal government was not entitled to its 7 million voters’ personal information beyond what was already available.

The DOJ cited three federal laws, the Civil Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act, that it said gave the Trump administration the right to the confidential information. Judge Hala Jarbou disagreed.

Attorney General Pam Bondi looks on during a news conference. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

«The Court concludes that (1) HAVA does not require the disclosure of any records, (2) the NVRA does not require the disclosure of voter registration lists because they are not records concerning the implementation of list maintenance procedures, and (3) the CRA does not require the disclosure of voter registration lists because they are not documents that come into the possession of election officials,» Jarbou, a Trump appointee wrote.

Federal judges in Oregon and California have also thrown out the DOJ’s lawsuits. The DOJ could appeal the decisions. A department spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

But the DOJ has seen cooperation from red states, such as Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, who were among several to reach a «Memorandum of Understanding» that led the states to hand over the information the department wanted.

In another maneuver, Attorney General Pam Bondi pressured Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, to provide the Midwest battleground’s voter rolls, saying in a warning letter that such action would help ease unrest in the state that stemmed from a federal immigration crackdown there. 

Democrats were enraged by the letter and have argued the Trump administration is infringing on states’ rights to conduct their own elections.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Ct., argued the letter was a «pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states,» while a state lawyer described the letter as a «ransom note.» The DOJ, at the time, told Fox News Digital Democrats were «shamelessly lying» about the letter’s purpose. Bondi said that handing over the voter rolls was among several «simple steps» Minnesota could take to «bring back law and order.» A lawsuit is still pending in Minnesota over the voter rolls.

In Congress, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act would make it a national requirement that people registering to vote provide in-person proof of citizenship, such as birth certificates or passports. The legislation also includes a new national requirement for photo ID at the polls.

The bill has widespread Republican support. The House passed the SAVE Act last week, and even moderate Republican senators like Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., have said they are on board with it. The bill is still stalled in the Senate, however, because it needs 60 votes to pass, meaning several Democrats would need to support it. Currently, none do. 

Von Spakovsky noted that the SAVE Act had a key provision that would allow private citizens to bring lawsuits over it.

People participate in a protest against the Trump administration in front of the Capitol. Washington, District of Columbia, on Feb. 17, 2025. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

«There’s no question in my mind that if the Save Act gets passed, there are election officials in blue states that will be reluctant to or may refuse to enforce the proof of citizenship requirement,» von Spakovsky said. «The Save Act provides a private right of action, so that means that citizens in Oregon could sue those election officials if they’re refusing to comply with the Save Act.»

He said the private right of action provision would also provide recourse for citizens if Democrats take over the DOJ in the next administration and refuse to enforce the SAVE Act.

Trump has repeatedly argued that noncitizen voting poses a threat to election integrity and has pressed Republican lawmakers to tighten federal requirements. Last week, he floated attempting to impose identification requirements through executive order if Congress does not act.

«This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW!» Trump wrote on Truth Social. «If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.»

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A much broader bill called the Make Elections Great Again Act is still moving through the House and faces a steeper uphill climb to passage.

In addition to national documented proof of citizenship requirement, the MEGA Act would end universal mail voting, eliminate ranked-choice voting and ban ballots postmarked by Election Day from being accepted after that day, which would outlaw postmark rules in 14 states and Washington, D.C.