Coincidence: Order of Malta, Croatia

[Moonraker]

Just a whimsical observation at this relaxed time of year: I'm reading an anthology of excerpts from Great War novels and yesterday finished a chapter from The Croatian God Mars, by Miroslav Krleža. It relates to a  hospital run by the Order of Malta during the Great War, apparently in Croatia, at a time when opposing armies were coming and going.

 

I had a vague idea that the Order was an ancient chivalric one and resolved to Google it today. Lo and behold, in today's Daily Telegraph is a news item about the Order - "a chivalric order based in Rome that regards itself as an independent sovereign state ... the oldest and most illustrious in the Catholic world" - being in a "civil war" about the supply of condoms in Africa.

 

My prep school headmaster always claimed there was no such thing as coincidence.

 

Once I've finished the 532-page anthology, I'll post a review. Suffice to say at this stage that it eclectically features authors from many countries.

 

Moonraker