The Magisterial House of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, Federation of the Autonomous Priories, ( KMFAP ) is proud to inform that on the 25th of March 2009 our Knight Sir Ernő Lazarovits was decorated by H.E. Mr. René Roudaut, the Ambassador of the French Republic in Budapest, acting on behalf of H. E. the President of France, Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy.

H.E. the French Ambassador and Ambassadress , Sir Ernö Lazarovits, H.G. the Prime Minister of the Federation and Lady Anna Popper

Sir Ernő received the insignias of Officier of  L'Ordre National de Merit of France during a very elegant reception that took place in the Official Residence of the French Ambassador in Budapest.  About 10 Ambassadors from different countries - including Russia, Israel, Sweden, Bielorussia among others, and H. E. the Apostolic Nuncio of the Vatican State - and high level personalities, such as the representative of the American Chamber of Commerce were present at the event. Our Federation ( KMFAP ) was represented in this act by its Lieutenant General and Prime Minister, H.G. Sir George Popper, and his wife Lady Anna. Of course the whole family of Sir Ernő was also present.

The French Ambassador gave a 20 minutes speech about Sir Ernő's life and about his important international Ecumenical activity.

Sir Ernő Lazarovits is a member of the Ecumenical Council of our Sovereign Order and State, as representative of the Jewish Faith, and as such he is Spiritual Guide of our Knights and Dames of this Faith. He is also Vice President of the 3 Religion Forum, in London, and, besides being one of the leaders of the Jewish community in Hungary, he is, on international level, one of the most active, respected and admired promoter of the ecumenical dialog among religions.

Sir Ernő had received some years ago the decoration of L'Ordre National de Merit of France, with the rank of " Knight Cross " and among his many decorations he has the prestigious and very rare decoration of " Radnóti Miklós " given to him during a Ceremony at the Hungarian Parliament on the Day Against Racism, and he is a Knight of our Sovereign Order and State.

The Grand Master and Chief of State of the Federation ( KMFAP ), on behalf of all Knights and Dames and of the Government, expresses the most sincere congratulations to Sir Ernő for this important international recognition and is very proud and honoured of having him as a brother Knight.