Unforgettable visits to the Grand Magisterium

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Visits to the Grand Magisterium

Personalities or groups are often welcomed to the Palazzo della Rovere, home of the Grand Magisterium, next to St. Peter’s Square. These offer important occasions to make the Order, its mission and its activities better known.

This was the case, for example, with Rabbi Josh Ahrens from Germany, who is very involved in dialogue. He came with a Slovak interreligious delegation to meet the Pope and, on that occasion, was received by the Governor General, Agostino Borromeo.

A few days before, it was the turn of the Imam of Trieste, Nader Akkad, to visit the Palazzo della Rovere. He declared that he was deeply touched by the discovery of the icon of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine, patron of the Order, who holds Jerusalem in her hands “as a sign and promise of welcome and protection, and as an exhortation to love and respect for all religious sites.” “The culture of encounter must radiate in each of us. Peace can only flow from pacified hearts, “he added in an interview given to the Grand Magisterium Communications Office and published in Italian on our partner website, Vatican Insider.

Other groups that came to the Grand Magisterium include members of the Thomas More Leadership Institute in Paris, among which there are members and supporters of the Order. The group devoted an afternoon to deepening their knowledge of projects for the benefit of Christian communities in the Holy Land as well as the paths of spiritual growth offered to Knights and Dames throughout the world. This association aims to help leaders direct their contribution, in their professional field, to the benefit of the community, especially in the light of the lives of the saints. Following their visit the participants wrote: “The example offered by the first blessed lay member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Bartolo Longo, resounds in us as an invitation to reflect on the Lord’s action in our lives: to become aware of our vocation as laity and baptized, to better convert our existence to His will and to make His message of love grow more and more.”

Finally, the Grand Magisterium welcomed more than 200 children and adolescents on pilgrimage to Rome, led by two young French Squires of the Order, who visited Palazzo della Rovere in four groups and discovered all of the actions carried out at the service of our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land.
 

(May 2017)