Message of the Chairman-in-Office :

With the personal permission of the Grand Chancellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, H.E. Mr. Jean-Pierre Mazery, Grand Cross of Grace and Devotion in Obedience, Grand Cross with Gold Star in the Order of Danilo I, we today update this article dated June 14, 2007 with a photo of the presentation ceremony of letters of credence by H.E. Ambassador Sbutega.
May H.E. Mr. Jean-Pierre Mazery and the Order of Malta find here the expression of our gratitude and our highest consideration.

Pierre Olivier LEROY,
July 31, 2008, 06:27pm.

Today, this Thursday June 14, 2007, took place at the Palazzo Malta in Rome, Italy, an official ceremony during which H.E. Mr. Antun Sbutega, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Montenegro to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, presented his letters of credence to the Grand Chancellor of the Order, H.E. Mr. Jean-Pierre Mazery.

H.E. Grand Chancellor Mazery, after warmly welcoming H.E. Ambassador Sbutega, substantially underscored the richness of the good relations of Montenegro with the Order, based on common historical, religious and cultural values, both being intrinsically linked by the Holy Icon of Our Lady of Philermos, Patroness of the Knights of Malta [1], which is presently preserved at the King’s Palace, now National Museum of Cetinje, the old Royal capital of Montenegro.
The Grand Chancellor also exhorted now old and intensive connections between the Order and Montenegro, reminding the four-day trip to Podgorica and Cetinje in March 2004 of the Prince and Grand Master, His Most Eminent Highness Fra’ Andrew Bertie, and the recent official visit to Rome, in January this year, of the President of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Filip Vujanović. He finally thanked Montenegro and its people for the always warm hospitality reserved to Knights’ delegations and pilgrims when coming to the country to pay homage to the Holy Icon.

As for him, after praising the thousand years-long connection of Montenegro with the Roman Catholic Church and describing the multi-confessionalism of Montenegro as a great capital for his country, the newly appointed Montenegrin Ambassador assured the Grand Chancellor of the highest consciousness by the Government of Montenegro of its moral duties towards the Knights of Malta and all the members of the Order around the world to preserve the Holy Icon of Our Lady of Philermos and to facilitate every pilgrimage to this unvaluable historic and Christian sacred symbol.
In particular, Ambassador Sbutega emphazised the care brought to the complete restoration of the Holy Icon in 1997 by one of the most famous Montenegrin monasteries specialised in this work, and how it is today respectfully displayed for public veneration in Cetinje, in a decicated sanctuary of the National Museum, the “Blue Chapel”.

Presently Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Montenegro to the Holy See since January 22, 2007, H.E. Mr. Antun Sbutega is the first Ambassador of Montenegro to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since the establishment of plenary diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level on September 5, 2006, after Montenegro gained independence on June 3rd.

H.E. Ambassador Antun Sbutega was born on November 27, 1949 in Kotor, Montenegro.
After being graduated in Economy from the University of Belgrade, he taught as Professor at the Kotor Marine Faculty, University of Montenegro, where he assumed by another way the Deputy Headship then the Headship of the Economic Department (1977-1991).
In October 1991, he emigrated with his family to Italy, residing in Rome.
From 1994 to 2006, he worked in the “Pontificia Opera Missionaria di San Pietro Apostolo” (Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle) and the “Congregazione per l’Evangelizzazione dei Popoli” (Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), also collaborating to the Eastern Europe Historical Studies Office in the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. He has been member of the Movement for Montenegro Independence; he is member of the Scientific Council of Archeosites Project.
Author of numerous historical and economical assays, H.E. Mr. Antun Sbutega is married to Nada Rašković and has three children — one son, Krsto, and two daughters, Olga and Ana; he speaks Italian, English and French.