Pope axes Knights chief in condoms row

Vatican City : The head of the Knights of Malta has resigned at the request of Pope Francis, the Order said Wednesday, ending a bitter power battle linked to a row over condoms.

The resignation of Grand Master Matthew Festing followed a month-long stand-off that had become a test of the reforming pope's authority over rebellious Church conservatives.

"The Grand Master was received on Tuesday by Pope Francis who requested his resignation, which the Grand Master agreed to," a spokesman for the Order told AFP.

Confirming Festing's departure, the Vatican said Francis had "expressed his appreciation and recognition for (Festing's) loyalty and devotion to the successor to St Peter (the pope) and his readiness to humbly act in the interests of the Order and the Church."

In theory, Briton Festing was in the job for life. His resignation has to be approved by the Order's sovereign council, which has been convened for Saturday.

The Vatican said a papal delegate would be named to head the order. 

The unprecedented and very public dispute between the Vatican and the Knights was seen by Holy See watchers as a proxy war between Church liberals and conservatives, led by American cardinal Raymond Burke.

The row erupted last month when Francis appointed a five-strong team to examine the circumstances in which the Order's number three was forced out of his job.

The Knights, a Church-linked charity body descended from the crusaders of the Middle Ages, refused to cooperate.

They said the December dismissal of Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager was an internal affair.