Family and early life
Paar is the younger son of Alfons, 6th Prince Paar (1903-1979) and of Countess Sophia von Schlitz genannt von Görtz (1906-2002). His elder brother Alfons Wenzel (1932-2016) was 7th Prince Paar. His younger sister Eleonore (1937-2010) married Carlo Cicogna Mozzoni, Conte di Terdobbiate (1922-1979). As the younger son of Prince Paar, he had the title Graf (count) from birth, although this was not recognised by the Czechoslovak government.
As a child Paar lived in the town of Bechyně in Czechoslovakia. In 1947 he moved to Switzerland for health reasons. [1] In 1948 he was joined in Switzerland by his parents who had fled the Communist coup d'état. [1] In 1954 Paar and his family moved to Austria. [1] Their castle in Bechyně was seized by the Communist government by a decision of the people's court in Týn nad Vltavou, March 25, 1949. [2]
In Austria Paar worked in the steel industry and then for a company which manufactured agricultural tools. [1]
Order of Malta
Paar's father was a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and had both of his sons join as knights of Honour and Devotion.
From 1962 to 1978 Paar worked in the hospital service of Malteser International.
In 1978 Paar took simple vows as a Knight of Justice. [3] In 1982 he took solemn vows. [3]
In 1981 Paar was elected Grand Prior of Bohemia, in exile in Vienna. [4] He was the first grand prior of Bohemia since the death of Cardinal Karel Kašpar in 1941. He held the position until 1988 when Prince Cyril Toumanoff was elected grand prior. [4] From 1995 to 1996 Paar was Deputy to Grand Prior Prince Toumanoff. [4]
In 1989 Paar was elected a member of the Sovereign Council in Rome. [3]
In March 2004 Paar was elected Grand Prior of Bohemia for a second time, but this time with his residence in Prague. He held this position until 2011. [4]
On February 16, 2019, in observance of Paar's 85th birthday Cardinal Dominik Duka celebrated a thanksgiving mass in Prague in the Church of the Virgin Mary under the Chain. [5]
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, commonly known as the Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of a military, chivalric, and noble nature. Though it possesses no territory, the order is often considered a sovereign entity of international law.
Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie was Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1988 until his death in 2008.
The Knights of Justice or Professed Knights, form the first of the three classes of members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta together with the professed conventual chaplains. They make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. According to the group's Code, "they are religious in all respects and they comply with the universal and particular norms that concern them."
Cyril Leo Toumanoff was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, Iran and the Byzantine Empire. His works have significantly influenced the Western scholarship of the medieval Caucasus.
Fra' Angelo de Mojana di Cologna was an Italian nobleman and Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1962 to 1988.
Fra' Robert Matthew Festing GCStJ OBE TD DL was an English Roman Catholic official who was the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2008 until his resignation on 28 January 2017, following a dispute with the Vatican.
Fra' Galeas von Thun und Hohenstein was the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1905 to 1931. His first name was also known as Galeazzo.
Jean-Pierre Mazery is a French economist and was the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) from 2005 - 2014.
Fra' Gherardo Hercolani Fava Simonetti was the Grand Commander of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta between 2009 and 2011, and as such he was the religious superior of the professed knights and of the knights and dames in obedience.
Fra' Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto was the Prince and 80th Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Born in Rome to a noble family with extensive ties to the Vatican, he completed his studies at the Sapienza University of Rome and taught at the Pontifical Urban University. He joined the Order in 1985 and took full vows in 1993 to become a Knight of Justice. Dalla Torre served two separate stints as interim leader of the Order, from February to March 2008 and again from 2017 until 2018. He was elected Grand Master of the Order on 2 May 2018 and served until his death. During his time in office he endeavoured to repair the Order's relations with the Vatican, which had been strained since Pope Francis ordered his predecessor to resign.
The following is a comprehensive list of orders, decorations, and medals bestowed by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, both in the present-day and historically.
RNDr. Bedřich Pola, is a Czech entrepreneur, founder of the first private integrated circuit Development Centre in the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), President of Maltézská pomoc, o.p.s. and the owner of castle Bukovec.
The House of Kolowrat is a Czech noble family that had a prominent role in the history and administration of their native Kingdom of Bohemia as well as the Holy Roman Empire and later the Habsburg monarchy as high-ranking officials and supporters of the Czech National Revival.
Fra' Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein was a Grand Commander of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He was acting head of the order for some months in 2017.
John Edward Critien was a Maltese Roman Catholic official. He served as Bailiff Grand Cross of Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and as a member of the Chapter of the Grand Priory of Rome. From 2014 to 2019 he was a member of the Order's Sovereign Council.
Fra' John Timothy Dunlap has been the Prince and Grand Master and head of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since May 3, 2023. He had been Lieutenant of the Grand Master since 13 June 2022.
Emmanuel-Frédéric-Gérard Rousseau is a French archivist.
Fra' Gottfried Ritter von Kühnelt-Leddihn is a Knight of Justice and Grand Prior of Austria of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He is a retired government official of the State of Tyrol in Austria.
Fra' Marco Luzzago was an Italian businessman who was the Lieutenant of the Grand Master and head of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious order and sovereign subject of international law, from 8 November 2020 until his death in 2022.
Dominique, Prince and Count de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel, Officer of the Légion d’Honneur, is a member of the House of La Rochefoucauld and was the Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the president of the French Association. He is today Vice-President of the Foundation of the Order and president of the historical academy. He is president of the foundation for Evangelization through the Media (FEM). The Prince branch of the family is closely linked with the Holy Mary apparitions in Pellevoisin (France) and the discovery of the Lascaux Caves which they owned with the marriage of Emmanuel, Prince and Count, Ambassadeur of the Order of Malta, and Simone Darblay. That branch is from the dukes of Estissac and due to their proximity with Napoléon, they are linked with Roman nobility with unions with the Borghese.
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