Protestant Continuation in Continental Europe
Following the Protestant Reformation, most German commanderies of the Order declared their continued adherence to the Order while accepting Protestant theology. As the Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem (Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem), the Order continues in Germany today, virtually independent of the Roman Catholic order.
From Germany, this Protestant branch spread into other countries in Europe (Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, France, Austria, the United Kingdom, and Italy among them), the Americas (including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela), and Africa (most notably in Namibia and South Africa), and to Australia.
The Dutch and Swedish commanderies after World War II became independent orders under the protection of their respective monarchs. In the Johanniter Orde in Nederland, the Dutch monarch is an honorary commander. In the Johanniterorden i Sverige, the Swedish monarch is its High Protector.
All three branches (German, Dutch, Swedish) are in formalised co-operation with the British order in The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem, just as there is extensive collaboration between these four Alliance orders and the Order of Malta.
Read more about this topic: Knights Hospitaller
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“There was a young lady called Alice
Who peed in a Catholic chalice.
The Padre agreed
It was done out of need
And not out of Protestant malice.”
—Anonymous.
“Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to the intellectual expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-medical jargon that parodies the concepts of science. The social style conforms to the political expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-liberal social movement that parodies the ideals of freedom and rationality.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“Of all the errors which can possibly be committed to the education of youth, that of sending them to Europe is the most fatal. I see [clearly] that no American should come to Europe under 30 years of age.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)