Youssef, Patriarch of the Cities of Antioch, Alexandria and of Jerusalem, of Cilicia, Syria, Iberia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Pentapolis, Ethiopia, of all of Egypt and the entire East, Father of Fathers, Pastor of Pastors, Bishop of Bishops, .the Thirteenth of The Holy Apostles, Patriarch of the Melkite-Greek-Catholic Church
Greeting
Whereas We have thought fit to reward the courage and bravery of the Sodalists of the Ordo Militiae Christi Templi Hierosolymitani with preaching the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ .
Whereas We can see your perpetual loyalty to the Church and to the Catholic teaching.
We do by these Presents grant upon you this chivalric and pastorally renewed the Statute General for the Ordo Equitum Christi Templique Hierosolymitani together with all and singular the privileges thereunto belonging or appertaining.
PREAMBLE
The Ordo Equitum Christi Templique Hierosolymitani (previously Ordo Militiae Christi Templi Hierosolymitani), hereinafter referred as the OECTH (previously OMCTH), is the Chivalric Order – International Federation of Grand Priories, protected and approved and staying under Spiritual Protection of the Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem of the Melkite-Greek-Catholic Church, with every Patriarch as the Spiritual Protector.
The OECTH accepts only and exclusively Sodalists who are of Catholic and Apostolic Profession.
Sodalists of the OECTH accept as their motto words: Praedicamus Christum crucifixum and as their cry words: Memento finis. The OECTH have a special esteem to the Psalm 115: Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
Chapter 1
Position in the Church
Art. 1.
Sodalists of the OECTH, Knights and Dames, hereinafter referred to as the Chivalric Order, constitute a holy chivalry whose knightly and humanitarian objectives are as prescribed in this Statute General, namely to propagate the Christian way of life and to promote and support religious, cultural, charitable and social works of particular concern to the Melkite-Greek-Catholic Church.
Art. 2.
The OECTH is the equestrian and fraternal pious sodality (pia unio), which acts under the proper regulations of the Canon Law (Canon 573 § 1 CCEO).
Chapter 2
Supreme Bodies
Art. 3.
1. The Grand Master of the OECTH, hereinafter referred as the Grand Master, is the supreme head of the OECTH.
2. The Grand Master rules with Decrees.
3. Decrees of the Grand Master may be undermined exclusively by the Patriarch.
Art. 4.
1. The Grand Chapter General of the OECTH is the supreme advisory body of the Grand Master.
2. Members of the Grand Chapter General of the OECTH they are: the Grand Chancellor of the OECTH, the Grand Marshall of the OECTH, three Grand Priors according to the seniority in exercising the Office.
Art. 5.
1. The Grand Convent General of the OECTH is the vox fratri.
2. The Grand Convent General of the OECTH meets every three years, convened by the Grand Master.
3. The task of the Grand Convent General of the OECTH is to safeguard the fidelity to the charisma and goals of the OECTH in light of the teachings of the Church.
Art. 6.
Let the implementation of governance will be a humble service for good of the others – Matthew, 20, 20-28.
Chapter 3
Patron Saints
Art. 7.
Sodalists of the OECTH, mindful of the traditions of the Christian knighthood and of a special worship of the mediaeval knights to Our Lady, Mother of Our Savior Jesus Christ, entrusts themselves totally and completely in all of their activities to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Art. 8.
The OECTH has the very special veneration to Patron Saints:
– Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist – patrons of chivalric orders,
– Saint George of Lyddia, Saint James the Greater, the Apostle and Saint Michael the Archangel – patrons of chivalry,
– Saint Jude the Apostle – the patron of difficult and hopeless cases,
– Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, initiator of Christian Knighthood, author of the De laudae novae militiae.
– Blessed George Popiełuszko, Presbyter and Martyr – as a perfect pattern of a modern Knight of Christ.
Art. 9.
- The Main Feast of the OECTH is:
– The Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe.
2. Holidays of the OECTH there are:
– 18th of March – The Martyr’s Day,
– 24th of April – Memory of Saint George of Lyddia,
– 24th of June – Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist,
– 25th of July – Feast of Saint James the Greater, the Apostle,
– 15th of August – The Solemnity of the Dormition of the Mother of God
– 20th of August – Memory of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot,
– 29th of September – Feast of Saint Archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel,
– 13th of October – The Memory Day,
– 19th of October – Memory of Blessed George Popiełuszko, Presbyter and Martyr,
– 28th of October – Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude, the Apostles,
– 8th of December – The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary,
– 27th of December – Feast of Saint John the Evangelist.
3. Special prayer days:
– every 12th Day of the Month – Litany to Saint Michael the Archangel for the OECTH,
– every Third Wednesday of the Month – Litany to Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFM Conv., priest and martyr, for the conversion of the enemies of the Church.
Chapter 4
The Charisma and Goals
Art. 10.
The OECTH is strengthening the traditional spirit of religiosity and chivalry and takes the following tasks:
1. To strengthen the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ among the people, by promoting values of the Gospels and the practice of the virtues of justice, of mercy and of charity.
2. To defend the Faith, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and the Christian civilization.
3. To co-operate strictly with the Melkite-Greek-Catholic Church to strengthen the Christianity in the Middle East and worldwide.
4. To help abandoned, poor and sick.
5. To defend innocents from injustice.
6. To support the research and the scientific projects, the conservation and restoration works of monuments and of archives, which reveal the historical truth about the mediaeval Order of the Poor Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon and to testify the mediaeval Knights’ Templar zeal of the Faith and their faithfulness to the Church.
Art. 11.
Sodalists of the OECTH, mindful of the vocation of all Christians to personal holiness and to evangelization, and being aware of teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of the mission of His Mother and Our Lady, Mary, in the Church and in the world, set as their main task the spreading of the Kingdom of Christ in Earth by taking the works of apostolate, related to the evangelization and to exercise the works of piety and charity.
Art. 12.
Sodalists of the OECTH, living in described for each of them environments and communities, are obliged to bear witness of Christian knighthood, seeking to grow in knowledge of the Savior. Everyone is recommended to the daily reading and contemplation of the Holy Bible, especially of the Gospels.
Chapter 5
Sodalists
Art. 13.
1. Catholic, man or woman, fulfilling the requirements provided in this General Statute and other laws may become Sodalist of the OECTH.
2. Sodalists of the OECTH are forbidden to join and to become members of organizations, associations and political parties, which activities are against God and against the Doctrine and teaching of the Catholic Church.
Art. 14.
There are three categories of Sodalists:
- Knight (Eques) / Dame (Equitrix),
- Chaplain (Capellanus),
- Squire (Scutarius).
Art. 15.
Knights and Dames and Chaplains are allowed to wear the Chevalier Cross on ribbon and white cape (mantle), Chaplains are also allowed to wear white mozzetta, Squires are allowed to wear the Squire Cross on ribbon and black cape (mantle). Capes (mantles) and mozzettas have the red Cross pattee on left chest.
Art. 16.
- Knights and Dames are included into the nobility class by the accolade.
- Sodalists of the OECTH have the right to receive the personal Coat-of-Arms according to their rank and their position in the Church and in the world.
- The Heraldry of the Chivalric Order is responsible for the Roll of Arms.
Chapter 6
Final Rules and Regulations
Art. 17.
Membership in the OECTH terminates by:
a) death of a Sodalist,
b) voluntarily resignation of a Sodalist,
c) the existence of the conditions of Art. 18 of this General Statute.
Art. 18.
The expulsion of a Sodalist from the OECTH is due to:
a) publicly rejection the Catholic faith and defection from ecclesiastical communion, or punishment by an imposed or declared excommunication; those enrolled legitimately who fall into the situation mentioned, after being warned, are to be dismissed from the OECTH, with due regard for its statutes and without prejudice to the right of recourse to the ecclesiastical authority,
b) misappropriation of the Oath and the laws of the OECTH,
c) jeopardizing the reputation of the OECTH,
d) not to fulfill the obligations laid down in the laws of the OECTH.
Art. 19.
The hierarchy of laws:
- Decrees of the Patriarch,
c) Decrees of the Grand Master,
d) Resolutions of the Grand Convent General.
Art. 20.
The OECTH can be abolished or suspended by the decision taken by the Grand Convent General of the OECTH, with majority of the 3/5 of the votes, in the presence of at least 3/5 members entitled to vote and unopposed and confirmed in writing by the Patriarch.
Art. 21.
The original text is this in English language.
Art. 22.
The Statute General of the OECTH comes into force on the day of signing by His Beatitude the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem of the Melkite-Greek-Catholic Church.
Dano w Naszej Bazylice Patriarchalnej Najświętszej Maryi Panny na Cosmedinie w Mieście Rzym, opatrzono Naszym własnoręcznym podpisem i Pieczęcią Patriarchatu Melchicko-GreckoKatolickiego 17 dnia miesiąca czerwca Roku Naszego Pana Jezusa Chrystusa MMXXII, w czwartym roku Naszego Pontyfikatu.
/ Pieczęć Patriarchatu, podpis Patriarchy Józefa Absi /
