News

Rejoice! the theme for the Order’s 36th annual international camp

Bavarian monastery hosts 500 young volunteers and guests

Ettal, Bavaria, 9 August 2019

The International Summer Camp-in Germany this year-always includes a time for prayer

In the days of high summer, 500 young people – made up of volunteers, carers, and 180 guests of the Order of Malta – have met up in Bavaria, in the splendid Benedictine Abbey of Ettal, to spend a week together, sharing outdoor activities, social events, fun and friendship, as well as time for prayer and meditation. This is the 36th International Camp for Young Disabled. The first camp, in 1983, numbered 60 participants, and now 500 come every year, representing 24 nationalities. 

Joy! Each year a special theme is chosen for the camp – this time it is ‘Rejoice’. Grand Master Fra’Giacomo Dalle Torre, in his greetings to the young in the church of St Kajetan, Munich, told them: “Try to preserve the joy that fills your hearts during these days and take it with you in everyday life.” Also welcoming the participants: the Grand Chancellor, Albrecht Boeselager, the Grand Hospitaller, Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel and the President of the German Association, Erich Lobkowicz.