Knights for Peace and Sanctification in the Middle East

Knights for Peace and Sanctification in the Middle East | William L. Patenaude | Catholic World Report



The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem works to support the people and shrines of the Holy Land.


Almost a thousand years after its founding, an order of crusader knights remains active in the Holy Land. Its mission is not armed battle but the carrying out of the order’s original ideals: personal holiness, evangelization, defense of the weak, and charity towards all. Its members also pledge to support the upkeep of the shrines where Christ was born, prayed, mounted his cross, and rose from the dead. 

Founded soon after the First Crusade, the pontifical Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem currently has some 28,000 clerical, religious, and lay members across the globe. While the order’s titles, regalia, and ceremonies of investiture come with great honor and dignity (and a rigorous nomination process), membership comes with a lifetime pledge of spiritual and worldly support for the Holy Land. As a result, the order offers countless prayers and millions of dollars annually to build, operate, maintain, and expand schools, youth centers, hospitals, seminaries, homes for religious, pre- and post-natal clinics, and the only Catholic institution of higher education in Israel, Bethlehem University.

“Our primary aim is personal sanctification,” stresses Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master of the worldwide order. “I am convinced that with this focus on holiness, the charism [to support the people and shrines of the Holy Land] comes into full bloom.”

The charitable order grew out of the need to govern Jerusalem after Godfrey de Bouillon and his crusaders freed the city from Muslim control in July 1099. The resulting “Order of Canons” included knights who had exhibited noticeable leadership skills and Christian charity. These soldiers-turned-protectors would take the Augustinian Rule of poverty and obedience and swear to defend the Holy Sepulchre (the site of Christ’s resurrection) and other Christian shrines.

Over time, many of the knights returned to Europe and Muslim armies retook Jerusalem. But with the aid of political and ecclesial encouragement, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem founded priories throughout Europe that kept alive its original oaths and charitable goals. With the restoration of Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarchate in 1847, Pope Pius IX placed the order under the full protection of the Holy See. A century later, Pius XII ordered that a prince of the Church would hold the role of the order’s Grand Master. Subsequent pontiffs brought even more structure.

What has not changed, however, is the order’s commitment to the Bishop of Rome and to Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch. The order thus serves as a bridge between the Church in the West and the people in the Middle East—especially Christians, who often find themselves caught in the midst of the regional political, social, and economic difficulties.

“The Christian minority living in the Holy Land increasingly faces the challenge of practicing their faith in the midst of conflict and turmoil,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM, Cap., archbishop of Boston and Grand Prior of the order’s Northeast United States Lieutenancy.

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