From Europe to Asia: The New Presences of the Order in the World

In recent months, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre has been pleased to add to its Lieutenancies and Magistral Delegations the Lieutenancy for Malaysia-Penang and the Magistral Delegation for Slovakia. In addition, the Magistral Delegation in Norway and in Croatia have been elevated to a Lieutenancy.

According to our Constitution, “The placing of the Order in a geographical area in which it was not present or the autonomy granted to a Section in relation to the original Lieutenancy to which it belonged takes place initially with the creation of a Magistral Delegation. The Magistral Delegation can be raised to the level of a Lieutenancy when it reaches a minimal duration of existence and a specific number of members” (Art. 25). This is illustrated by what happened with Norway and Croatia. Meanwhile, the newly established Lieutenancy for Malaysia- Penang was immediately elevated to the status of a Lieutenancy due to the unique circumstance of having long been a Section of the Lieutenancy for Western Australia and because of the large number of Members already invested in this local group.

As for Slovakia, its inclusion marks a completely new presence for the Order in this Country, with the appointment of Miroslav Gieci as the new Magistral Delegate and Monsignor Ján Orosch, Archbishop of Trnava, as the new Grand Prior of the Magistral Delegation. The new Magistral Delegate shared how his desire to join the Order grew over time. “Thanks to Saint Charbel—for whom I have great respect—I became more familiar with the history of the Eastern Churches, their activities, and their current conditions. I wanted to support our Christians living in the Near East. I sought a way to help them and discovered the presence of the Order in the Czech Republic, which I approached.”

From there, various steps were taken to enable the Order to establish a presence in Slovakia. During the upcoming visit of Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Grand Master, to the nation, scheduled for the Spring of 2025, important celebratory moments will take place to mark the formal establishment of this new local reality of the Order.

(January 2025)