The Consulta: the Order’s five-year general assembly

The Consulta of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is the Order’s main advisory body. Under the presidency of the Cardinal Grand Master, all the highest offices of the Order, the Grand Magisterium, the Lieutenants and the Magistral Delegates, a representative of the Secretariat of State and a representative of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches take part.

In the last twenty years, the Consulta has focused on the deepening of a specific theme that this year will concern the role of the Lieutenants in the mission of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. It is also an opportunity to hear updates on the activities of the Grand Magisterium and open discussion on important themes.

The Consulta must be convened at least once every five years.  The previous meeting took place in 2013, during the Year of Faith, and is remembered with particular joy as an opportunity to propose an even wider experience of communion, thanks to the participation of Knights and Dames wishing to join their Lieutenants and Magistral Delegates - already present in Rome - for a pilgrimage to the Eternal City from September 13 to 15. This historic pilgrimage recorded the participation of over 3,500 Knights and Dames from around the world and culminated in a meeting with Pope Francis.

Five years after that event, we are again preparing ourselves for a meeting that will allow a global representation of the Order to confront itself on its chosen direction and the current affairs of our Pontifical Institution. All Lieutenants and Magistral Delegates, together with the leaders of the Order will meet in Rome from November 13 to 16, 2018. An Instrumentum Laboris is being drafted by a special commission chaired by Lieutenant General Agostino Borromeo and will help to direct the reflection of the participants, who will receive it before the meeting.

During the days of the Consulta, plenary sessions will alternate with meetings of the participants divided into linguistic groups. The Grand Master, Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, and the Governor General Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, both very active in visits to the peripheral structures of the Order on five continents, will have the opportunity to meet the Lieutenants and Magistral Delegates both during the formal sessions and during convivial moments of a more spontaneous sharing.

(June 13, 2018)