By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic
Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC
Knights of Malta take part in an archdiocesan Mass at St. Mary Cathedral in December 2011. From left: Mark Wolff, Father Patrick O'Neill, and Dr. Jose Centurion.
This article is part of an ongoing series about papal and chivalric orders active in the archdiocese
MIAMI � In the early hours of the last Saturday in September, Nick Silverio of Christ the King Parish in Perrine was awakened by phone call from a distressed young mother in the Tampa area: She had given birth at home hours before and wanted help.
What happened next is that the baby boy in question became number 181 in the list of babies that have been brought to safety by Siverio�s A Safe Haven for Newborns and a hotline which assists at-risk mothers and babies.
�I told her she could leave the baby at a fire station or a hospital with no questions asked,� said Silverio, who previously ran a software company and since 2001 has been dedicated to running Safe Haven in the memory of his wife, who died following a car accident.
The Tampa woman went straight to the nearest fire station, which transported the child to All Children�s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where it will be available for adoption. It was a case of a tragedy averted at a time of high concern about abandoned babies and resulting infant fatalities.
�The mother then called back to say �thank you� and that things went as she hoped. She took our suggestion for counseling and we arranged for that in Tampa through a Christian organization,� said Silverio.
In four instances over the years, a mother later took steps to be successfully reunited with her child.
Silverio�s Catholic faith and consistent dedication to charitable works brought him in touch years ago with members of the Miami region of the American Association of the Order of Malta, which includes some 150-160 men and women from Key West to the Palm Beach area.
An ancient and sovereign entity tracing its roots back to its presence in the Holy Land in 1048, the Order of Malta remains true to its inspiring principles, contained in the motto �Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum� � defense of the faith and assistance to the poor and the suffering.
The motto becomes reality through the voluntary work carried out by members � called dames and knights following their investiture � through humanitarian assistance and medical and social activities. Today the order carries out these activities in over 120 countries.
Based in New York City, from small beginnings the American Association has grown to approximately 1,700 knights and dames throughout several states. Some South Florida Catholics of Cuban descent are members of a separate, Cuban Association of Malta which traces its regional organization to Cuba.
The order includes both knights and dames from around the world, and its official name is Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta � but it is referred to in conversation as simply the Knights of Malta. One thing that is unique to the order: It has diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries (although not the U.S.) and permanent observer status at the United Nations. Its diplomatic posts are �neutral, impartial and non-political,� aimed only at supporting the order�s charitable activities.
The American association holds its annual investiture of new members in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City each November. Members are encouraged to take periodic pilgrimage retreats to places like Lourdes, France.
�Every single person I have met in Malta is committed to their faith and giving back, to working together,� said Silverio, who will give a presentation on his Safe Haven work to several hundred members of Malta who will gather in New York this month. �To sum up the Knights of Malta: God sent us to do something either large or small but it all matters.�
In Coral Gables, a longtime dame of Malta, Grace Colross of Little Flower Parish, said she has enjoyed the Malta-sponsored social gatherings and fund raisers and volunteering at the Marian Center School and Services in Opa Locka, which assists handicapped and disabled youths.
�Malta helps so many people from Haiti to South America to Homestead to Pahokee, and if it wasn�t for us some of these people would be having a very hard time,� Colross said. �We do what we do out of the love in our hearts and it comes back to us tenfold.�
Colross and her late husband Tim Colross, also knight of Malta, were invested some 15 or 20 years ago and have gone on pilgrimage to Lourdes. Colross now hosts an annual pre-Christmas get together and a Mass at her home for local members of Malta. The Mass is celebrated each year by Father Patrick O�Neill.
Father O�Neill has been active in Malta and served for 23 years as director of the ecumenical and interfaith office of the archdiocese. He is also president of the New Hope Foundation serving the rural poor in Florida.
The American Association of Malta also has a regional priest-chaplain, Dominican Father Dave Caron, a past director of Mission and Ministry at Barry University in Miami Shores, and newly-named president of Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Mo.
The Order of Malta is not just an association or an honorary society, according to Andy Vissicchio a member of St. Jude Parish in Boca Raton who was invested as a knight of Malta in 2008. It is a working order of the Church and members are expected to serve the poor.
�Our ancient texts refer to �Our Lord the Poor� and �Our Lord the Sick,� and so it�s not just a club. When you are invited to become a member you are expected to serve,� Vissicchio said. �All the members of Malta roll up their sleeves and help the poor.�
Vissicchio is deeply involved in prison ministry both at Palm Beach County Jail and by serving on the prison ministry committee for the American Association of Malta.
Prison ministry has become a kind of �signature ministry� of Malta, he added, and Malta�s volunteer efforts regionally have brought thousands of copies of the Bible and other prayer material to inmates around the country.
The prison ministry volunteers have personal encounters with the inmates when possible and the Bible distribution is a chance to meet one-on-one with a growing number of incarcerated men and women.
�There is a conversation that takes place at that moment, and we sit together and talk about the inmate�s issues,� he said. �We can identify what it takes for him or her to return to the faith, to Christ, to the Church or help them to just start thinking about a return.�
�It is a door-opener to a conversation that takes place, a conversation that may not have happened had the inmate not asked for a Bible,� Vissicchio said. �It is always gratifying to do God�s work and that is why we are in Malta.�
MIAMI � In the early hours of the last Saturday in September, Nick Silverio of Christ the King Parish in Perrine was awakened by phone call from a distressed young mother in the Tampa area: She had given birth at home hours before and wanted help.
What happened next is that the baby boy in question became number 181 in the list of babies that have been brought to safety by Siverio�s A Safe Haven for Newborns and a hotline which assists at-risk mothers and babies.
�I told her she could leave the baby at a fire station or a hospital with no questions asked,� said Silverio, who previously ran a software company and since 2001 has been dedicated to running Safe Haven in the memory of his wife, who died following a car accident.
The Tampa woman went straight to the nearest fire station, which transported the child to All Children�s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where it will be available for adoption. It was a case of a tragedy averted at a time of high concern about abandoned babies and resulting infant fatalities.
�The mother then called back to say �thank you� and that things went as she hoped. She took our suggestion for counseling and we arranged for that in Tampa through a Christian organization,� said Silverio.
In four instances over the years, a mother later took steps to be successfully reunited with her child.
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Nick Silverio, a knight of Malta and founder of Safe Haven for Newborns, poses with one of his success stories, baby Vincent, born in 2007 and placed for adoption.
An ancient and sovereign entity tracing its roots back to its presence in the Holy Land in 1048, the Order of Malta remains true to its inspiring principles, contained in the motto �Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum� � defense of the faith and assistance to the poor and the suffering.
The motto becomes reality through the voluntary work carried out by members � called dames and knights following their investiture � through humanitarian assistance and medical and social activities. Today the order carries out these activities in over 120 countries.
Based in New York City, from small beginnings the American Association has grown to approximately 1,700 knights and dames throughout several states. Some South Florida Catholics of Cuban descent are members of a separate, Cuban Association of Malta which traces its regional organization to Cuba.
The order includes both knights and dames from around the world, and its official name is Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta � but it is referred to in conversation as simply the Knights of Malta. One thing that is unique to the order: It has diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries (although not the U.S.) and permanent observer status at the United Nations. Its diplomatic posts are �neutral, impartial and non-political,� aimed only at supporting the order�s charitable activities.
The American association holds its annual investiture of new members in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City each November. Members are encouraged to take periodic pilgrimage retreats to places like Lourdes, France.
�Every single person I have met in Malta is committed to their faith and giving back, to working together,� said Silverio, who will give a presentation on his Safe Haven work to several hundred members of Malta who will gather in New York this month. �To sum up the Knights of Malta: God sent us to do something either large or small but it all matters.�
In Coral Gables, a longtime dame of Malta, Grace Colross of Little Flower Parish, said she has enjoyed the Malta-sponsored social gatherings and fund raisers and volunteering at the Marian Center School and Services in Opa Locka, which assists handicapped and disabled youths.
�Malta helps so many people from Haiti to South America to Homestead to Pahokee, and if it wasn�t for us some of these people would be having a very hard time,� Colross said. �We do what we do out of the love in our hearts and it comes back to us tenfold.�
Colross and her late husband Tim Colross, also knight of Malta, were invested some 15 or 20 years ago and have gone on pilgrimage to Lourdes. Colross now hosts an annual pre-Christmas get together and a Mass at her home for local members of Malta. The Mass is celebrated each year by Father Patrick O�Neill.
Father O�Neill has been active in Malta and served for 23 years as director of the ecumenical and interfaith office of the archdiocese. He is also president of the New Hope Foundation serving the rural poor in Florida.
The American Association of Malta also has a regional priest-chaplain, Dominican Father Dave Caron, a past director of Mission and Ministry at Barry University in Miami Shores, and newly-named president of Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Mo.
The Order of Malta is not just an association or an honorary society, according to Andy Vissicchio a member of St. Jude Parish in Boca Raton who was invested as a knight of Malta in 2008. It is a working order of the Church and members are expected to serve the poor.
�Our ancient texts refer to �Our Lord the Poor� and �Our Lord the Sick,� and so it�s not just a club. When you are invited to become a member you are expected to serve,� Vissicchio said. �All the members of Malta roll up their sleeves and help the poor.�
Vissicchio is deeply involved in prison ministry both at Palm Beach County Jail and by serving on the prison ministry committee for the American Association of Malta.
Prison ministry has become a kind of �signature ministry� of Malta, he added, and Malta�s volunteer efforts regionally have brought thousands of copies of the Bible and other prayer material to inmates around the country.
The prison ministry volunteers have personal encounters with the inmates when possible and the Bible distribution is a chance to meet one-on-one with a growing number of incarcerated men and women.
�There is a conversation that takes place at that moment, and we sit together and talk about the inmate�s issues,� he said. �We can identify what it takes for him or her to return to the faith, to Christ, to the Church or help them to just start thinking about a return.�
�It is a door-opener to a conversation that takes place, a conversation that may not have happened had the inmate not asked for a Bible,� Vissicchio said. �It is always gratifying to do God�s work and that is why we are in Malta.�
