Sovereign Council Confers Awards on Federal Association Members
The Sovereign Council of the Order has conferred the Pro Merito Militense on these members of the Federal Association.
The citations for each are found below.
Cross of Grand Officer Pro Merito Militense
John Collins Harvey, M.D., Ph.D., K.M.Ob.
Cross of Commander Pro Merito Militense
Fra’ James-Michael von Stroebel
Cross Pro Merito Militense
Harry J. Grim, Esq., K.M.
Margaret Headley, D.M.
Elizabeth A. Hoag, D.M.
John T. Massman, K.M.
Sergio Micheli, K.M.
John T. Miller, Jr., Esq., K.M.
Roland A. Morrow, K.M.
Barbara P. Murphy, D.M.Ob.
Paul A. Nalty, Esq., K.M.
W. Dennis Owen, K.M.
Mary Noel Page, D.M.
Joseph P. Swift, M.D., K.M.
Jean Pierre van Rooy, K.M.Ob.
Harry J. Grim, Esquire became a Knight of Malta in 1993 in the American Association. In 1994, at the suggestion of Bishop William G. Curlin, then Bishop of Charlotte, Harry along with Chuck Grace, Knight of Malta of happy memory, transferred his affiliation to the Federal Association and began the process of establishing the Order in the diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina. He served as Regional Hospitaller from 1994-2001 during which time the Order in Charlotte grew impressively. Harry began the Order’s ministry to homeless men in Charlotte in 1996. This ministry continues and remains an important part of the Order’s work in Charlotte.
In addition to his specific work with the Order, Harry has been most active with Catholic education starting the Charlotte Catholic High School Foundation, serving on the Board of Trustees of the University of Dallas (a Catholic University) and in ministry to the sick as founding Chairman of the Mercy Hospital Foundation. He has also spent countless hours as a Suicide Prevention Counselor. He has made the pilgrimage to Lourdes every year since 1994, and through his work the Charlotte group has become very active in the Lourdes Pilgrimage.
In addition to his charitable work with the sick and poor through the Order, Harry rose to prominence in the legal profession, serving as Chairman of the Management Committee of the largest law firm in North Carolina as well as General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Bank of America-Texas. In this capacity, Harry served as a model Catholic professional and, in a quiet but most effective manner, broke down various forms of anti-Catholic bigotry throughout his legal career.
More than any single Knight, Harry J. Grim is responsible for the growth of the Order in Charlotte and the numerous activities the Order sponsors there.
Dr. John Collins Harvey, Knight of Magistral Grace in Obedience, has been a member of the Order since 1977. He has served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Federal Association, and as Chairman of the Lourdes Committee. Under his leadership, the Federal Association’s participation in the annual Lourdes Pilgrimage grew from one member in 1988 to 49 in 1989 and 78 in 1990. He ceaselessly promoted the importance of the Pilgrimage, and has served for over twenty years on the board of medical experts who evaluate cures of the sick who claim healing of ailments as the result of asking Our Lady’s intercession at Lourdes.
Dr. Harvey has been Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University for over 40 years, during which he has attained a reputation as one of the most significant and influential physicians in the United States. He has traveled across the entire world in his medical capacity, and has received many awards, including having been made a Knight of Saint Gregory by Pope Paul VI, and elevated to Knight Commander with Star by Pope John Paul II.
He has interested many outstanding Catholic lay men and women in becoming members of the Order, and has shepherded them through the introductory stages to help them become worthy and productive members. He can be counted upon for his active and enthusiastic participation in a wide variety of the activities of the Federal Association, and as a wise advocate for addressing the needs of the Order nationally and globally. He is an extremely well-informed member of the Order, having spent decades reading and studying its history.
In light of the foregoing, we respectfully request that Dr. John Collins Harvey be awarded the Cross of Grand Officer Pro Merito Militense.
Margaret Headley, D.M., was invested in the Order in 1986. Having long since been widowed and having retired from service at the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, Margaret has used her time and talents to benefit the Federal Association and the Order in myriad ways. She has served for over twenty years as the Chairman of the annual Memorial Mass for the Deceased, and has been a key member of the Investiture Committee in which capacity she has served as one of the Mistresses of Ceremonies during the annual Investiture Mass. She has made the pilgrimage to Lourdes, and literally has taken part in most of the Federal Association activities in the Washington area for the last 23 years.
One of Margaret’s most significant roles has been as a volunteer in the office of the Federal Association. In the late 1980s and early 1990s when frequent personnel changes occurred, she was a constant in coming in to work nearly every day, organizing many of the programs and activities and attending to correspondence. She applied her administrative experience to making certain that the office operated efficiently and successfully. W. Shepherdson Abell, the Federal Association’s fifth President, made reference to Margaret’s tireless administrative endeavors and charitable activities at the Association’s annual meeting by noting that he had appointed her to a specific task because he know she would do it well.
Her lay leadership has been esteemed across the Washington Archdiocese for decades, and includes her service as President of the Christ Child Society, a preeminent Catholic charity. The Order has been a principal focus of her life since 1986.
Elizabeth A. Hoag, DM, “Betty”, was invested in the Order of Malta in 1999. As a member of the Order, Betty serves the poor and sick and defends the Faith in extraordinary ways. She started a program to bring food to the homeless in the Dallas, Texas, area Saturday mornings. The project known as “Ministry to the Homeless” began in Betty’s kitchen where she and her friends made sandwiches, packed the car, and drove to downtown Dallas to give the food to the homeless. Over the years, in her role as Regional Hospitaller, the program has grown and now the recipients are served a hot meal, joined in conversation and prayer with the volunteers and helped with clothing, blankets and jobs.
As Hospitaller of the Dallas area, Betty began many other programs serving the poor. Members prepare and deliver meals to the women who live at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shelter, a home for unwed mothers. Members also help with repairs needed at the residence. Members help with the Missionaries of Charity Summer Camp and host events for the residents at Ministry to St. Joseph Residence. Betty is the founder of the Culture of Life Foundation which disseminates pro-life scientific research around the world.
Betty began an Order of Malta Prayer Ministry which is a prayer line and telephone chain for special intentions. As Hospitaller she was responsible for organizing all the spiritual activities for the members throughout the year. Members attend First Friday evening Mass at the Cistercian Chapel followed by dinner. Every Wednesday, members gather for morning Mass and breakfast. They have an annual Diocesan Mass for the sick and disabled and their caregivers. They host a Lourdes reunion Mass and reception and have Lenten retreats for the area members. Betty is tireless in her work serving the poor and the sick in the Dallas area. She is a strong and outspoken defender of the right to life.
Betty is an example to her Catholic community as well as the greater Dallas community of faith in action. She is exemplary in her devotion to the Order of Malta and to the commitment she made when she became a member.
John Massman of Mission Hills, Kansas, has been a faithful and dedicated member of the Federal Association of the Order of Malta since his investiture in 1988. Over the years he has served on the Association’s Admissions Committee and the Board of Directors. He is currently the Regional Hospitaller for Kansas City, a position he has held for many years. His devotion to serving the poor and the sick is demonstrated by many projects he has started or supported in Kansas City. The members there organized a Lourdes Anointing Mass for the sick and the elderly thirteen years ago. It is an annual event for hundreds who come to the Mass, the anointing, and a social time following the Mass. All the malades are given Lourdes water as a gift from the Order. Several Hospitaller regions of the Federal Association have emulated Kansas City as a model and begun their own annual Lourdes Anointing Mass.
To raise awareness of the homeless and to help the hungry, John organized an Annual Holiday Hunger Awareness Day also known as “Soup-Er-Bowl”. Through this event, thousands of dollars are raised to help the hungry in Kansas City.
In Defense of the Faith, John has been active in supporting the Church and the Right to Life movement in a specific project called Vitae Caring. The work of this group is to provide television spots giving women information about alternatives to abortion. These television spots are produced to attract different audiences based on age, ethnic group and other factors. Women are given specific information about places they can go to get help in continuing their pregnancy instead of having an abortion.
As Hospitaller, John organizes the spiritual activities of the members of the Order in Kansas City. The members meet once a month for Mass, an annual Day of Recollection, an annual Memorial Mass for Deceased Members of the Order, Mass of the Feast of St. John the Baptist and a special Mass in the Fall to pray for the Sanctity of Life.
John is involved yearly with the formation of new members who are preparing to join the Order. He carefully encourages each candidate to become involved in the work of the Order and its spiritual activities of the Order during their formation year. In this way he has ensured that the members in Kansas City are all involved in the ongoing work of the Order.
John has demonstrated extraordinary devotion to his Catholic faith and to the Order of Malta.
Sergio Micheli has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the charitable and spiritual activities of the Order of Malta since his investiture twenty-one years ago.
He is one of the Knights who successfully undertook the creation in 1990 of Project SHARE, an organization that has used self-help methods to distribute tens of millions of dollars worth of nutritious food to lower income persons. He assisted not only by serving on its initial advisory board and later its Board of Directors, but also by organizing annual golf tournaments, the considerable proceeds of which supplied necessary funds to the nascent project.
Mr. Micheli has also served as a member of the Federal Association’s Task Force on Cuba, traveling to Cuba several times as a member of an Association delegation and, uniquely, arranging personally for the transport of a large amount of toys for the residents of l’Edad d’Oro, a home for developmentally disabled children in Havana.
He and his wife, Pilar, have played a leading role in the efforts of the Federal Association to assist the Daughters of Charity at the Cité Soleil facility in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and have sponsored several fund-raising efforts for that purpose. Mr. Micheli has also served as Regional Hospitaller for the very active Knights and Dames who reside in Northern Virginia. He has donated the services and facilities of a restaurant he owns in Virginia to many functions of the Order.
Sergio and his wife have received the President’s award of the Catholic University of America in recognition of their valued service to that institution. They have also participated in several pilgrimages of the Order to Lourdes, on one of which they were accompanied by Sergio’s parents from Italy.
John Miller has been a member of the Federal Association of the Order of Malta since 1992, and has been an exemplary member both in his service and in his participation in spiritual events.
John was educated at Clark University, Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Geneva. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is the father of nine children.
John is an attorney in private practice and an adjunct professor of corporation law at Georgetown University. He has served as President of the Federal Energy Bar Association and as a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. He was also a faculty member of the National Judicial College for nine years and a trustee of both Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School and the DeSales School of Theology. He has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the DeSales Center of Lay Spirituality, and is a past trustee of Clark University.
As a member of the Order, John has served at Mother Teresa’s Gift of Peace Residence and Hospice, a facility that cares for patients with AIDS, for 15 years and has served on the Federal Association Lourdes Committee for 12 years. John was Vice-Chair of the Lourdes Committee under Admiral William Callaghan for three of those years and became Chair of the committee when the Admiral retired. John was tireless in his dedication to the pilgrimage; first as a committee member, then as Vice-Chair and finally as Chair. Illness prevented John from continuing as chair, but did not deter his dedication to the pilgrimage. In 2008 John came on the pilgrimage as a malade, and in 2009 was back again as a volunteer.
After careful discernment John asked to become a Knight of Obedience. At this time John is a candidate for the second class.
Rowland Morrow, K.M., of Baltimore, Maryland, is a graduate of the University Chicago and the University of Maryland School of Law. He held significant positions in the Department of Defense, including Director of Defense Counterintelligence Programs, and has served as a consultant in the field of Defense and Intelligence.
Roland has bee a most productive member of the Order since joining the Federal Association in 1990. He has served six years on the Board of Directors of the Federal Association, and as a member of the Executive Committee, in which he offered his wise counsel to two Presidents.
Rowland is a convert to Catholicism and has worked assiduously to support Catholic principles and teachings. He has been an Extraordinary Ministry of the Eucharist in his parish for the past 25 years. He has been a major figure in the Lourdes Pilgrimage for over fifteen years, serving on the Lourdes Committee and working during the pilgrimage as a team leader and in a wide range of other capacities. Each year the pilgrimage traditionally concluded with his role as Master of Ceremonies at the final gathering in Lourdes.
He has been an active supporter of Project Share, a program of the Federal Association, in Baltimore, and has been a productive volunteer in numerous undertakings of the Federal Association in both Washington and Baltimore. His commitment to direct hands-on service to Our Lords the Poor and the Sick is a steadfast and constant theme in his life.
Barbara Murphy, Dame of Magistral Grace in Obedience, is one of the most dedicated and respected members of the Federal Association. She has worked with the Order since her husband, Judge Timothy Murphy, became a member in 1981, being invested herself as a Dame in 1990. She has attended every pilgrimage to Lourdes since becoming a member and, for many years, has represented the Order working in Hôpitalité, performing the wide variety of tasks as assigned to her.
Barbara has been an outstanding lay leader in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, over the last 45 years. She served as Dean of what is now the Catholic Distance University, and as President of the Brent Society, the leading Arlington diocesan association of Catholic lay leaders.
As a member of the Order she has labored tirelessly to build a cohesive unit of the members of the Order living in the Arlington Diocese. She was a founding member of the Defense of the Faith programs, now a regular monthly activity of the Northern Virginia Hospitaller region. She has spent many hours visiting the sick at the Cherrydale Nursing Home, one of the region’s principal hands-on activities. She and Judge Murphy have hosted numerous Order-related activities in their home, and have been most active and faithful in attending programs and functions at home and abroad.
Most important, she has delved deeply into the spirituality of the Order, which led to her making the Promise of Obedience in 2001. She served for six years on the Board of Directors of the Federal Association, in which capacity she traveled extensively to Board functions around the country. Barbara is a deeply devout Catholic who manifests her faith in every aspect of her daily life, and is admired as a model for other members of the Order.
Paul Nalty has been a Knight of Malta and a member of the Federal Association since 1985. His wife, Jane, has also been a member since 1989. Paul and Jane are the parents of five children, one of whom is an ordained priest.
Paul is a graduate of Georgetown and Tulane Universities and is a practicing attorney.
Paul took the leading role in the growth of the Order in New Orleans; working closing with the local Ordinary who was suggested by Paul as a chaplain in the Order. Since that time two subsequent Ordinaries have also become chaplains in the Order and have worked closely with the New Orleans group.
Paul was the first Hospitaller in the New Orleans area and as such was the promoter of three facilities that were converted from Catholic religious facilities into homes for the elderly: Malta Square, Malta Park and Malta Court. One was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but the other two have been restored, and are operating to capacity today.
Paul and his wife, Jane, established the Willwoods Foundations in 1976. It was this foundation that was instrumental in initiating the three Malta projects mentioned above.
As a Deacon, Paul has assisted at several of our investitures as well as at masses in Lourdes when we are on pilgrimage. He continues to assist at the masses in New Orleans.
Paul has experienced two very serious illnesses in the past few years, but is on the road to recovery and hopes to come to Lourdes with us again in 2010.
Mr. Owen was received formally into the Order in 1989. Dennis was the first member from Syracuse, New York. Dennis is the father of eight children. He was a most devoted husband and father. He and his wife brought all of their children up in a very loving Catholic environment. Unfortunately, he has been a widower for 25 years.
He has always been very close to the Christian Brothers, having been educated by them in high school. After his children were grown, Dennis donated his large home to the Brothers and it has served as their novitiate. He continues to assist the Brothers in their financial and educational duties to this day. Dennis established a scholarship fund at Christian Brothers Academy and he stays close to the recipients, helping them through their years at the school, both emotionally and financially. Dennis continued his education at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where he continues to mentor his scholarship students. It was while serving on the Alumni Board at Georgetown that he became acquainted with members of the Order of Malta.
The Order of Malta had no presence in central New York State at the time, Dennis was interested and was the leader in establishing a group in the Syracuse area. He was very careful in doing so, identifying persons of strong faith who had already demonstrated a sincere devotion to serving the poor and the sick.
Dennis’ first endeavor as a knight was to establish an early morning First Friday Mass in the downtown area, inviting Catholic doctors, lawyers and other professionals in the region. Priests were chosen as speakers on the basis of their ability to speak eloquently about living the Catholic faith in the modern environment. Discussion focused on ethics in the workplace. This Mass continues today, some ten years after its inception.
He is a very spiritual man, a daily communicant, and attentive to developing the Catholic faith in his 28 grandchildren. He has served on the Board of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Syracuse for over 20 years. He has been a trustee of Lemoyne College, at Christian Brothers Academy, and St. Mary’s of the Lake Church.
Dennis is devoted to serving the poorest of poor in the Syracuse community. He is a founding member of the Brady Faith Center that serves the poor in a minority section of our city. He is also involved in St. Lucy’s Parish, again in a very poor section of the city, assisting the pastor in collecting food and arranging services for the members of the parish. He also works with Unity Acres, a residence for alcoholics.
He has served as Hospitaller of the Syracuse area and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Association, has been on our Lourdes pilgrimage and also served on the Grants Committee of the Association.
In short, Dennis Owen has been an extraordinarily devoted and effective member of the Order.
Mary Noel Page has been a member of the Federal Association of the Order of Malta since 1991.
She is married to William J. Page, Grand Cross of Magistral Grace, who served two terms as President of the Federal Association. Mary Noel and Bill have four children; one of whom is a member of the Order. Their daughter, Sheila, has accompanied the Association on numerous pilgrimages to Lourdes. A daughter-in-law, Katie Kiesel Page, is also a member of the order. Mary Noel is a very active member of the Order, and also serves on the boards of St. Luke Institute, Providence Hospital Health Foundation and Chestnut Hill College.
Mary Noel has been a volunteer at Providence Hospital and at Mother Teresa’s Gift of Peace Project, providing food for the residents, and at St. Luke’s “Rainbows for All God’s Children.” But where Mary Noel has excelled is as the Malade Coordinator for the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, a position she has occupied for 12 years.
From the time a malade application is received Mary Noel remains in constant communication with the sponsor of the malade, making sure every detail is attended to. As soon as the applications arrive on her desk she is attending to the malades, answering any questions they might have, and allaying any fears they have about making such a trip in their compromised health. Mary Noel knows every malade and their family members by name by the day our medical team meets and assesses their ability to make the trip.
In the midst of attending to these details, she also hosts several members of the committee in her home for the duration of the meetings. Mary Noel hosts the medical team as its members determine which malades are capable of making the trip. Several times she has convinced the team to bring whole families, “because the mother would worry about the children at home,” or she decides we need to take a malade, “more for the father’s sake, as he needs the trip spiritually more than the child”. From that moment on, Mary Noel is in constant communication, but now with each malade and the malade’s family; making sure they are still healthy enough to travel, and answering any questions they might have about the trip. For many, this is their first time flying in an airplane or traveling to a foreign land. By the time we arrive at the airport, Mary Noel is a familiar friend to all of them.
Mary Noel is the epitome of what service to the sick is all about. We are privileged to have such a committed member in this position. She is most deserving of suitable recognition for her untiring devotion.
Dr. Joseph P. Swift was invested as a Knight of Magistral Grace in 1997. He had a distinguished career in medicine from 1964 until his recent retirement, practicing in internal medicine and endocrinology, and serving as Chief of Endocrinology and Chairman of the Medical Department at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC.
As a member of the Order of Malta, Dr. Swift has generously used his medical skill and training to assist poor persons in need of care, providing pro bono medical care to sick persons in numerous ways, including service as a volunteer physician at the Mercy Clinic in Maryland and Bread for the City in Washington. He has also served at Gift of Peace, established by Mother Teresa, as a consultant in Endocrinology for the Washington Archdiocese’s Healthcare Network, and as a member of the Association’s Task Force in Cuba.
Dr. Swift was among the first physician members of the Federal Association to serve at the Hôpital Sâcre Coeur in Milot, Haiti. He is also a member of the Lourdes Pilgrimage Committee and its Malade Selection Team. With His wife, Mary Swift, D.M., he has taken part in the pilgrimage many times.
Dr. Swift rendered valuable service on the Association’s Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008. In short, Dr. Swift has been an exemplary member of the Federal Association, and has endeavored to live his life in a manner that is fully in keeping with the charism of the Order.
It is fair to say that no individual member of the Federal association has expended greater effort or devoted more time advancing the good of the Order over the last eighteen years than Fra’ James-Michael von Stroebel.
Commencing in the early 1990’s, Fra’ James-Michael has volunteered countless days – often four or five full days a week – working effectively in the office of the Association, dealing with applications for grants, preparing detailed records for audit, providing information and performing numerous tasks.
He has prepared the booklets on the liturgy of our Investiture Masses for many years and has assisted on numerous other liturgies. He has advised the Association on several ceremonial matters. He has been a member of our Grants Committee and our Task Force on Cuba, and Chairman of the Investiture Mass Committee. Fra’ James-Michael has participated on the Lourdes Pilgrimage every year since 1993.
In addition, he is frequently called upon for information concerning the Constitutional Charter and Code of the Order. He was one of the two persons who completed the official English translation of these documents. He has also participated in three Chapters General.
In light of the foregoing, we respectfully request that Fra’ James Michael von Stroebel be awarded the Cross of Commander Pro Merito Militense.
Jean-Pierre Van Rooy, “JP” was invested in the Order of Malta in 2000. JP lives in Farmington, Connecticut, and is the Regional Hospitaller for the Hartford, Connecticut, area. He is the leader of a small but growing group of Malta members in the Hartford area. He is devoted to serving the poor and the sick. In Hartford, he conceived and planned a new project, “Malta House of Care,” which provides primary health care for uninsured and underinsured people in the Hartford area. Its mobile clinic is staffed by volunteer doctors and Malta volunteers and travels to different locations during the week. Churches in the diocese lend their parking lots for the mobile van. The pastors also open space inside parish premises for patients to be received by volunteers. The space also serves as a waiting area for the patients.
As Hospitaller, JP organizes spiritual activities for the members. They meet regularly as a group for Mass, and celebrate major feast days of the church with Mass.
JP has also devoted himself to the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem. He serves on its Board and has been a frequent visitor to the hospital in support of its magnificent work in the Holy Land. He also is involved with the Hôpital Sâcre Coeur in Milot, Haiti, through the Crudem Foundation. That foundation operates a hospital in northern Haiti that provides the only reliable medical care for people in a desperately poor area. For years, JP has also supported the St. Francis Care hospitals in Connecticut, and served on several committees for them.
JP is a strong defender of the Faith by his words and actions. He is a regular participant in the annual Lourdes Pilgrimage, and serves as an example to all who know him of a fine Catholic gentleman and an outstanding Knight of Malta.