I am deeply saddened to inform you of the passing to his eternal reward of Brother Alan Diesel.
Brother Alan was a Past Supreme Knight of the Knights of Da Gama (South Africa) and was also a founding member of the International Alliance in 1979.
I am sure that since the founding of the Alliance in 1979 no President has sat down to write his Easter message in the circumstances, we find ourselves in at present.
In my own country of Scotland, we are in total lockdown with no one able to leave the house except for essential reasons and even our churches are closed to the public.
The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead that we celebrate on Easter Day and throughout the Easter season is for Christians the bedrock of our hope in Him. Because Jesus rose from the dead we too can hope for resurrection.
The Christian virtue of hope is not to be confused with optimism.
I never had the opportunity to meet Brother Virgil Dechant but a number of my predecessor Supreme Knights in the UK did.
Those who did know and meet him said was that he treated them and the SKs throughout the world as equal as Supreme Knights, irrespective of the individual country or jurisdiction.