Fra' John Timothy Dunlap (born 16 April 1957) is a Canadian attorney and the 81st Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, since 2023.[1]

John Dunlap
His Most Eminent Highness
Fra' John Dunlap
Prince and Grand Master
of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Reign3 May 2023 – present
Acting:
13 June 2022–3 May 2023
PredecessorGiacomo dalla Torre
Successorin office
Grand Commanders
Born (1957-04-16) 16 April 1957 (age 67)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Names
John Timothy Dunlap
FatherJohn Gerard Dunlap QC
MotherDena née Morrison
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Dunlap previously served as Lieutenant Grand Master of the Order of Malta from 13 June 2022[2] before becoming the first Sovereign Prince and Grand Master without noble or aristocratic descent, as previously required, following Pope Francis' revision of the Order's constitution in 2022.[3]

Education and career

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The only son of Jake Dunlap QC and nephew of Judge Frank Dunlap, his grandfather was Henry Joseph Dunlap MC, late Royal Canadian Engineers, of ancient Scottish descent.[4]

Born and raised in Ottawa,[5] Dunlap received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ottawa and a Juris Doctor from the University of Western Ontario,[6] having also studied at the University of Nice.[6]

Admitted to the New York State Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association, in 1986 Dunlap joined the New York legal firm Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller, becoming a partner in 1993.[5] Specialising in corporate and immigration law,[6] he was appointed legal advisor to the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.

Order of Malta

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Appointed a Knight of Magistral Grace of the Order of Malta in 1996,[7] Dunlap professed temporary vows in 2004. On 7 June 2008, he professed perpetual vows as a Knight of Justice at the Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village.[7] In 2006 he was elected the First Regent, or religious superior, of the Sub-Priory of Our Lady of Lourdes,[8] which comprises Knights, first and second class, who are members of the American Association and the Federal Association.[7][9]

In May 2014, Dunlap was elected to a five-year term as a member of the Order's Sovereign Council.[10] He also serves as President of the Committee on the Orders of St John, set up as a collaborative body between the Order of Malta and the four non-Catholic orders of St John.[11]

On 13 June 2022, Pope Francis appointed Dunlap as Lieutenant Grand Master of the Order of Malta,[5] before, on 3 May 2023, being elected Sovereign Prince and 81st Grand Master.[12] Dunlap's election was made possible by Pope Francis's 2022 revisions to the Order's constitution, which removed the traditional requirement for the Grand Master to prove noble ancestry.[13]

Charitable activities

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Dunlap is President Emeritus of the Canadian Club of New York, Vice-President of the Royal Conservatory of Music Foundation (Toronto), a Trustee of John Cabot University (Rome), and President of the Friends of the Certosa di Capri (Italy).[6]

Coat of Arms

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Armorial bearings of His Most Eminent Highness the Prince and Grand Master Fra' John Dunlap
Coat of arms of John T. Dunlap
Notes
As Prince and Grand Master His Most Eminent Highness quarters the Order of Malta (1st & 4th) with his Dunlap family arms (2nd & 3rd) granted to his father, John Gerard Dunlap, in 2003.[14]
Crest
Issuant from Waves Argent a Wall Gules charged with a Trillium Proper between two Thistles Or and issuing therefrom a Hand Proper grasping a Sword Argent hilted Or.
Escutcheon
Argent a double-headed Griffin sejant affronté per fess Gules and Sable holding in its claws a Sword point in base Argent hilted Or.
Motto
Concussus Surgo[15]

Honours and decorations

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Fra' John Timothy Dunlap received the title of Canon ad honorem of the Saint Lawrence Collegiate Chapter of Vittoriosa by solemn decree of His Grace the Metropolitan Archbishop of Malta Mgr Charles Jude Scicluna on the 16th of June 2023. His Most Eminent Highness was decorated with the pectoral cross which is one of the insigna bestowed by the Holy See on the Collegiate Chapter.[16]

Fra' Dunlap has also been awarded the following honours:

Papal orders

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Commonwealth honours

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National orders

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Dynastic orders

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ www.orderofmalta.int
  2. ^ www.vaticannews.va
  3. ^ www.vatican.va
  4. ^ www.gg.ca
  5. ^ a b c "Fra' John T. Dunlap is the new Lieutenant of the Grand Master". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2022-06-13. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  6. ^ a b c d "John T. Dunlap, Partner". Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP. Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2018-05-05.
  7. ^ a b c "New Yorker Professes Vows as Malta Knight". cny.org. Catholic New York. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  8. ^ www.orderofmalta.int
  9. ^ "Fra' John Timothy Dunlap" (PDF). orderofmaltaamerican.org. Order of Malta American Association. December 2009. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  10. ^ "The Chapter General of the Sovereign Order of Malta was held in Rome". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2014-05-31. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2018-05-05.
  11. ^ www.stjohninternational.org
  12. ^ "Fra' John Dunlap 81st Grand Master of the Order of Malta". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  13. ^ "The Order of Malta's new Constitution". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2022-09-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  14. ^ "New Lieutenant of the Order of Malta". Guy Sylvester. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  15. ^ "John Timothy Dunlap". Canadian Heraldic Authority. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Sovereign Order of Malta". Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  17. ^ www.thegazette.co.uk
  18. ^ www.quirinale.it
  19. ^ www.quirinale.it
  20. ^ www.presidencia.gob.pa
  21. ^ www.legislatie.just.ro
  22. ^ "Grand Master receives Collar of the Most Holy Annunciation". orderofmalta.int. 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  23. ^ "Award of the Collar of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George to H.E. Fra' John Timothy Dunlap, Lieutenant of Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta by H.R.H. Prince Charles of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Head of the Royal House". Sito Ufficiale del Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio - Official Site of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George | Site Officiel de l’Ordre Sacré et Militaire Constantinien de Saint-Georges | Sitio official de la Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge | Die offizielle Webseite des heiligen konstantinischen Ritterordens vom Heiligen Georg. 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Prince and Grand Master
of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Acting: 2022–2023

2023–present
Incumbent