The Order is strengthening its action in response to the tragic situation of the Christians in the Holy Land

The spring meeting of the Grand Magisterium was held on April 29, 2025, and chaired by the Assessor of the Order, Msgr. Tommaso Caputo, Archbishop-Prelate of Pompeii, in a spirit of gratitude for the pontificate of Pope Francis – who cared so much for the Holy Land – and in the absence of Cardinals Filoni and Pizzaballa, Grand Master and Grand Prior of the Order, who are participating in the General Congregations prior to the start of the Conclave.

In his introduction, Msgr. Caputo emphasised the ecclesiological dimension of the Order, highlighting the importance of this aspect in the formation of its Members. The Governor General, Ambassador Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, guided the proceedings which focused on the Order’s activities over the past six months. In his very comprehensive speech, he reiterated the importance of the Order’s ongoing support to the Catholics in the Holy Land.

He stressed the urgent need to maintain the high level of this regular institutional aid (almost one million euros each month, not counting the additional specific projects), while the war in Gaza has already caused more than 50,000 deaths and unemployment affects a large proportion of the population in the West Bank.

A special message from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was then read out, in which he expressed his deep gratitude for the “extraordinary” generosity of the Order at this very difficult time for people in the Holy Land, and hoped for a gradual return of pilgrimages by Knights and Dames to the Holy Places.

The Treasurer, Saverio Petrillo, pointed out that we reached more than 18 million euros of ordinary contributions in 2024, 2.3 million more than in the previous year, demonstrating an extraordinary mobilisation of the Members given the tragic situation in the Holy Land.

During his moving address, the CEO of the Latin Patriarchate, Sami El-Yousef, bore painful witness to this tragedy which has been going on for a year and a half, speaking of the “broken trust“ between Israelis and Palestinians, and referring to the beginning of instability in Jordan too, where 2.4 million Palestinian refugees live, as a result of the decision to put an end to financial aid from the United States to them through UNRWA. In a spirit of hope, noting that the Patriarchate is the leading employer of Christians in the Holy Land, he stressed the importance of the North American campaign in support to the Patriarchate’s 44 schools, in particular to help families pay school fees.

During a long debate, it became clear that the Grand Master’s plan to create an association of friends of the Order would enable us to broaden the scope of this aid, through additional contributions to those of the 30,000 Knights and Dames.

The meeting continued with a report by the President of the Holy Land Commission, Bart McGettrick (see pages XI-XII of this Newsletter), who alerted the Grand Magisterium about the risk of ‘scholasticide’ caused by a possible future non-recognition of Palestinian university degrees in Israel.

In keeping with the agenda, each of the four Vice-Governors spoke during the day, demonstrating the efforts being made on every continent to develop the Order, particularly in Latin America and in the vast Asia-Pacific region where the Governor General will be travelling at the end of May. Finally, the Chancellor spoke about the Order’s Jubilee pilgrimage planned for next October and the communications activities for which he is responsible, before a prayer to Our Lady of Palestine and then the concluding Mass, presided over by Msgr. Caputo, with a particular intention for the Cardinals responsible for electing a new Pope.

François Vayne

(April 2025)