Newsletter N° 56 December 2019 jerusalem cross ordinis equestris sancti sepulchri hierosolymitani @granmagistero.oessh www.oessh.va @GM_oessh Welcome to the new Grand Master of the Order By decision of the Holy Father, His Eminence Cardinal Fernando Filoni has been appointed Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre starting this December 8 2019, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. We publish below the official communiqué of His Eminence Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master of the Order since 2012, who concludes his mandate a few months after reaching the age of 80. t is with complete acceptance and two Governors General with whom I have appreciation that I welcome the served, Their Excellencies, Professor Agostino “Idecision of Pope Francis to replace me Borromeo and Ambassador Leonardo Visconti as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of di Modrone. Our collaborators in the Grand the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. I am Magisterium and the daily, dedicated service especially pleased that His Holiness has of our office staff largely account for the appointed His Eminence Fernando Cardinal steady growth of our Order. Their Filoni as my successor. commitment to our lieutenancies and to the I have been privileged well beyond the time mission of the Latin Patriarchate has been of my letter of resignation, unwavering. submitted over five years Finally, I welcome His ago. Throughout my more Eminence, Cardinal Filoni than eight years as Grand as Our Grand Master. His Master, my personal faith long and broad pastoral and and love of our Church administrative experience in have deepened as I have service to the Universal witnessed our members’ Church will be precious commitment to the goals of assets as he leads our Order our Order, expressed in into the future. I offer him different cultures and my full and fraternal languages, all profoundly Cardinal Fernando Filoni succeeds support as I beg the Catholic! Cardinal Edwin O’Brien as leader of continued intercession of I am most grateful to the the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Our Lady of Palestine.” II Newsletter N° 56 ● JERUSALEM CROSS ● To my Venerable Brother Cardinal Edwin Frederick O’Brien s I accept your resignation from the office of Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of Athe Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which you have presented in accordance with the canonical norms, I wish to express to you my heartfelt thanks for the love, competence and fidelity, with which you offered your collaboration in the solicitude of the Pastor of the Universal Church for the Christians of the Holy Land. I remember your intense service to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which began on August 29, 2011 under the pontificate of Benedict XVI, as Pro- Grand Master, and then from March 15, 2012, following your elevation to Cardinal, as Grand Master of the same Order. May the awareness of your generous and tireless dedication in favour of the Christian presence in the Holy Land, as well as the collaboration that you, Cardinal, will continue to offer as a member of the College of Cardinals, be of comfort to you, instilling joy and serenity in your soul, just as mine is filled in the knowledge that I will still benefit from your experience. Therefore, my dear Cardinal, I happily wish you all good and prosperity in Christ Jesus, invoking every desired grace on your ministry. As I entrust you to the special protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all the Saints, I impart to you from my heart, in the hope of abundant divine rewards and as a pledge of my fraternal closeness, my Apostolic Blessing, which I gladly extend to your near and dear ones. Pope Francis From the Vatican, 8 December 2019 Message of the Governor General t is with great joy that we welcome the of our works at the service of the Mother Inew Grand Master appointed by the Pope Church in Jerusalem. on December 8 last. Cardinal Fernando His nomination is a gift from God and we Filoni will guide the members of the Order thank Him for this, and we put his ministry to live fully their baptism and to be in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, missionary disciples in the light of the Risen Queen of Palestine. Christ, in accordance with his episcopal We also pray with gratitude for Cardinal motto Lumen Gentium Christus (Christ, light Edwin O’Brien, who leaves his post but of peoples). remains one of us, a Knight of the Holy In fact, the Grand Master has a precious Sepulchre, and whom we will always be missionary experience, having been Prefect happy to see again in the life and journey of of the Congregation for the Evangelization of our Order. Peoples, after having served the Church in All together, with Cardinal Filoni, we many high offices, particularly in Jordan and continue our earthly pilgrimage in the faith, Iraq. He knows the Holy Land well and will united in prayer with Pope Francis. be able to foster ever better the development Leonardo Visconti di Modrone ● ● contents Notice to our readers The appointment of the new Grand Master of the Order was announced when this issue of the Newsletter was ready for print. Thus, while we dedicated our opening pages to this news, we would ask you to read the rest of the edition in the context prior to this event. The Order in Union with 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF PATRIARCHATE the Universal Church SCHOOLS IN JORDAN XII DEFENDING RIGHTS: LEGAL ASSISTANCE “THE MEMBERS OF THE ORDER ARE LIKE AND ECONOMIC SUPPORT FOR THE AMBASSADORS OF THE HOLY LAND” IV MOST NEEDY IN EAST JERUSALEM XIII THE STATUE OF THE FIRST DEACON AND FIRST Proceedings of the Grand Magisterium MARTYR OF CHRISTIANITY, IN THE ATRIUM OF SAINT STEPHEN’S BASILICA XV THE GRAND MAGISTERIUM AUTUMN MEETING AND THE CELEBRATION The Life of the Lieutenancies OF OUR LADY OF PALESTINE VII ORDER’S SPIRITUAL HEADQUARTERS OPENS CANADA’S FIRST NATIONAL ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC IX INVESTITURE XVII SAINT PETER IN GALLICANTU AND The Order and the Holy Land THE LAST NIGHT OF JESUS XVIII THE HOLY LAND COMMISSION VISITS JORDAN XI “EXSULTET” IN POMPEII XX GRAND MAGISTERIUM OF THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE OF JERUSALEM 00120 Vatican City E-mail: [email protected] IV Newsletter N° 56 ● JERUSALEM CROSS ● The Order in Union with the Universal Church “The members of the Order are like ambassadors of the Holy Land” Exclusive interview with Holy See Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin our Eminence, what does the The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre were Order of the Holy Sepulchre among those engaged in this noble Yrepresent to you and what is its enterprise. The earliest documents place in the universal Church? Given concerning them date back to 1336. From that the Pope appoints the Grand the 14th century onwards, the Popes sought Master, could it be said that this is the to give them a juridical regulation and they only chivalric order intrinsically gradually expanded their tasks to devote linked to the Holy See? themselves to preserving the faith in the Since the dawn of Christianity, the Land Holy Land, supporting charitable works and where Our Lord was born, lived, died and social services of the Church, in particular rose again has had a special place in the hearts of believers and of the various ecclesial communities that have spread outside the Jewish world. Many faithful chose to live the Gospel both in a solitary form, as hermits, and gathering together, precisely in the places that had seen the earthly presence of Christ, in particular those linked to the stages of his public life, beginning with the Holy Sepulchre. The need is also felt to visit them. Thus, pilgrimages began, as a devotional and existential form of journey, which saw significant growth during the Middle Ages. The birth of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre dates back to that period, with explicit reference to the tomb that guarded the body of Jesus Christ devoid of life and from where he rose The Pope’s number one collaborator, Holy See again. The need was felt to defend its Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, testifies to integrity and that of those who went to the importance of the mission of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre for the Universal Church. visit it. ● ● N° 56 Newsletter V ● JERUSALEM CROSS ● those promoted by the Latin Patriarchate of In the first, the Pope appoints the Grand Jerusalem. Master, while in the second he is confirmed. The Order has always benefited from the protection of the Supreme Pontiffs. We could There are 30,000 Knights and Dames cite some passages, for example in 1496 worldwide who are very active within Alexander VI decided that he would be the their local Churches and strongly supreme Moderator, delegating to the united with the bishops of the Franciscans – who had been entrusted with territory, who often act as Grand the care of the Holy Sepulchre by Clement Priors of the Order’s Lieutenancies. VI in 1342 – the power to confer the Would you say that the mission of the knighthood to nobles and gentlemen on a members of the Order consists in pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Leo X renewed being ambassadors of the Holy Land the confirmation of this privilege to the in their respective dioceses? Franciscans in 1516, Benedict XIV further It could be said in all truth that the renewed it in 1746, and finally, in 1847 Pius members of the Equestrian Order of the IX, who reconstituted the Order, did so too.