.Order of Malta Oakland Health Clinic Opens

There are a lot of reasons why we’re thrilled that the Order of Malta has opened a free health clinic in Oakland’s new Catholic cathedral. But the big one has to be that shortly after the Order of Malta got started in the 11th century, it established a military wing that defended Jerusalem from Muslims seeking to retake lands lost in the First Crusade. From bloodstained broadswords near the Wailing Wall to pap smears on the shores of Lake Merritt; history’s a funny thing.