Order of Malta GB sends volunteer teams to Rome to support Year of Jubilee pilgrims
The British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (BASMOM) has dispatched its first team of volunteers to help support and care for the millions of pilgrims who will be visiting Rome this Jubilee Year.
The British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta was founded in 1875. The Association, as part of the OSJCT (Orders of St John Care Trust), participates in the operation of homes for the aged, in Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Arundel, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Currently there are over 60 homes, with some 3,500 residents, the Order being part of the organisation which is the largest provider of protected accommodation in the UK.
The Order has some 300 British members, many of whom are descended from recusant Catholic families and martyrs. Membership is by invitation, usually after work for the Order.
In Britain the Order has two auxiliary bodies, the Order of Malta Volunteers in England and the Companions of the Order. They are closely associated with the work of the Order, organising pilgrimages to Lourdes and Walsingham and various fund raising events.
Teams A and B are the Order’s first British teams to volunteer in Rome at the four basilicas for the Jubilee Year. As thousands of pilgrims descend on the city, the volunteers have been kept busy, attending to pilgrims visiting the basilicas. Over the year, members of the Order in Britain, with friends and volunteers, have offered their time and support for those needing care.
Each team attends two shifts per day in each basilica. A doctor, a nurse and two first-aiders are present for every shift, totalling 32 volunteers per week for 55 weeks, according to the Holy Doors opening and closing dates in the four basilicas.
