A new council has been set up to reform the embattled British branch of the Order of Malta.

A "caretaker council" will be responsible for implementing changes to the British Association of the Order of Malta (BASMOM) following concerns about the failure to act on suspicions about a sacristan, Vernon Quaintance, 68, who in April was convicted of child pornography offences.

The council includes Mark Brenninkmeyer, former chairman of the C&A clothing chain, financier Richard Fitzalan-Howard, and Stephen Macklow-Smith, a managing director at JP Morgan bank.

Two senior figures in the order have been asked to step down from their positions while an investigation is conducted: Charles Weld, president of BASMOM, and Fra' Duncan Gallie, a member of the Sovereign Council, the governing body of the worldwide order.

Above: British-born Fra Matthew Festing, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, with Pope Benedict XVI. Photo: CNS/L'Osservatore Romano