Welcome

“You are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
~ Acts 1.8

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem – Eastern Lieutenancy is an association of Roman Catholic Christian faithful entrusted with an important mission from the Holy Father – to serve as witnesses to the Christian faith and supporters and protectors of the Church and the living Christian communities in the Holy Land.

The Order’s mandate originates from the time of the crusader knights who were responsible for protecting the Christian pilgrims traveling to the sacred sites. Today the Order’s members continue to aid the Church in the Holy Land and to strengthen the practice of Christian life amongst its members.

The Jerusalem Cross and “Deus lo vult”

Recent media accounts have noted the tattoos of Christian imagery of the nominee for U.S. secretary of defense. Reports have asserted these images, two of which compose the insignia of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an ancient order of chivalry of the Catholic Church, have been embraced by what have been described as Christian and white nationalists.

The Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a non-partisan Catholic organization under the direct protection of the Holy See and as such does not express partisan political opinions on the qualifications or associations of the cabinet nominee, who is not a member of the order.

The Jerusalem Cross has been part of Christian iconography for more than a millennium and has been an inspiration to Christian pilgrims who no longer see it as a banner for crusades and war but of the passion and death of Jesus and his empty tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. For centuries, Christian pilgrims from around the world have had the Jerusalem Cross inked on their skin as an indelible reminder of their pilgrimage to the Holy City and of their faith in Christ.

The iconography of the Jerusalem Cross represents the five wounds of Jesus on the cross, with the four smaller crosses depicting the wounds on his feet and hands, and the large cross the piercing his side by the spear of the Romans. Secondarily, the Jerusalem Cross represents the four Evangelists — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — and Christ. This image is particularly important as it reminds Christians of Jesus’ sacrifice to die for the salvation of the entire world, so that we “may have life and have it abundantly.”

The Jerusalem Cross, the order’s chief insignia, is visible throughout the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, as it is shared as the emblem of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem — the Roman Catholic diocese for Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Cyprus and Jordan — and the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which has shared with the Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox communities in the care and protection of the Christian holy sites for more than 800 years.

The Jerusalem Cross is visible wherever the order serves, particularly when its 30,000 members gather in voluntary and generous support of the church’s hundreds of hospitals, clinics, schools and social service works across Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria — all of which serve the vulnerable and marginalized of all faiths. In fulfilling our mission in obedience to the call of the cross, the order advocates justice for all, peace, dialogue and stability and promotes the Holy Land as a laboratory of peace and conviviality.

In today’s context, “Deus vult” or “Deus lo vult” (God wills) — once used to rally crusader knights in the Middle Ages to reclaim the Christian places in the Holy Land — reminds believers God alone has dominion over all, and commands us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

The primary aim of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is to strengthen among its 30,000 members worldwide the practice of Christian life, and to sustain and aid the charitable, cultural and social works and institutions of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, particularly those of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.