No expert on this, but Malta is a Catholic island, and the Freemasons are anti-Catholic (at least in the time of the invasion of Malta on this thread).
Hence, the Catholic secret orders with names having Malta in them, “Knights of Malta,” etc., would not be the Freemasons. Just my guess.
Basically, the Malta secret orders are the Catholic answer to the anti-Catholic Masonic secret orders. The same sort of secretive thing, only Catholic.
How the Catholic “Knights of Columbus” secret society fits into this, I haven’t a clue. Maybe some Catholic on this thread can tell us.
as a reminder, freemasons were once a part of the Catholic Church.
two wrongs don’t make a right....