<<Since they are not under religious vows>>
You keep saying this -- but you're wrong:
From the web site of the Knights of Malta:
<<Members of the First Class are Knights of Justice, or Professed Knights, and the Professed Conventual Chaplains, who have made vows of “poverty, chastity and obedience aspiring to perfection according to the Gospel”. They are religious according to Canon Law but are not obliged to live in community.>>
https://www.orderofmalta.int/sovereign-order-of-malta/knights-of-malta/
The Grand Master and other members of the hierarchy of the order are Knights of Justice, professed religious.
I provide this information as a service to you and to other readers who may have been confused by your error in this matter, and by the fact that you repeated it so often.