Abp. O'Brien New Pro - Grand Master of Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre

This is a courageous man who defends the fullness of the Gospel and the teaching office of the Catholic Church

The Order is a true Equestrian Order of Knights (and Ladies) and not a fraternal society. It is tasked by the Pope with defending the Christians and the Holy Places of the Holy Land.The origins of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem date back to the First Crusade. We ask our readers around the world to pray for Archbishop O'Brien, the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Christians in the Holy Land.

P>BALTIMORE, MD (Catholic Online) - Archbishop  Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore has been selected by Pope Benedict as the Pro - Grand Master  to  the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He will replace the retired Cardinal John P. Foley. He began the announcement Monday with a prayer to the Holy Spirit and read his letter of acceptance to the Holy Father.

"With deep gratitude do I accept your nomination of me to serve as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. I pray that I will carry out the will of God and that of Your Holiness in preserving the Faith and defending the sacred places in the Holy Land..."

He told those gathered at the August 29th news conference, "News of this appointment came as a shock to me and I am still adjusting to the reality that effective today I am no longer the Archbishop of Baltimore."  After thanking many who had assisted him in his leadership of the Archdiocese of Baltimore he concluded his prepared remarks and answered questions.

In one response he noted "To remove a resident bishop of a major archdiocese to a task such as this shows the priority that the Holy Father has, and I better have in my life."  He indicated he had learned of the appointment by way of a phone call and was surprised, "Anyone I spoke to here on the staff would know that I wasn't myself, it really took some getting used to."

The Archbishop noted it "show(s) the importance that the Holy Father (assigns) to the presence of the church in the Holy Land.We're diminishing in numbers every year, there are some misunderstandings among various faith groups there, and the Holy Father wants to assure everyone in the Holy Land of his support and his desire that peace will be brought about and to see that the good work that can be done will be done."

Since the appointment as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order usually falls to a Cardinal of the Church there is little doubt that this Archbishop will receive the honor of the Cardinal's red hat at the next consistory. Archbishop O'Brien is 72 years old and has led a life of exemplary service to the Lord and His Church.

Prior to his appointment to the Archdiocese Baltimore in 2007, Archbishop O'Brien served for ten years as the head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services. He also served as a chaplain at the United States Military Academy in West Point and in Vietnam. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1965 and  had a distinguished record of academic service as the rector of St. Joseph's Seminary in New York and the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

This is a courageous man who defends the fullness of the Gospel and the teaching office of the Catholic Church. He is a strong defender of true marriage and the family and society founded upon it. He does not hesitate to contend with those in public office when their positions violate the Natural Law and do not serve the common good. The most recent example was his defense marriage against Gov. Martin J. O'Malley, a Catholic, who sponsored legislation which purports to call what can never be a marriage, homosexual partnerships, to be a marriage.

He is a strong proponent of the New Evangelization, as evidenced by his promotion of solid evangelistic and apologetic efforts within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland. He is defender of the fundamental human right to life and has participated in every effort he can to protect our youngest neighbors in the womb against the horrors of legal abortion.

His courage and pastoral concern have been evident in his dealing with the challenges he faced in Baltimore over the last few years. They were also evident beyond Maryland. For example, his early expression of concern and stalwart defense of human freedom against the abuses later revealed to be at work in the founding of the Legionaries of Christ show the mettle of the man.

Replacing him in this important Archdiocese will be a challenge. Baltimore was erected in 1789 as the first Catholic diocese in the United States. The Archbishop said in the news Conference that he has been appointed the Administrator of the Archdiocese and will continue to provide oversight until such a replacement is named by the Holy Father.

As Editor in Chief of Catholic Online, I regularly write concerning the challenges faced by Christians in the Holy Land. The pronouncements of the Holy Father increase as persecution of Christians in the Holy Land intensifies. The irreplaceable significance of the Holy Sites of Christianity in the land where the Lord Himself walked is clear. The Archbishop's service in this new post requires the combination of courage and holiness that he has shown in his past assignments.

I had the honor of being invested as a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in 1998 by another holy Bishop, Cardinal James Hickey, of blessed memory. The investiture service was a profoundly spiritual experience which changed me. The years have deepened my understanding of the role of the Order and its importance at this prophetic time in history at the dawn of a new missionary age.

The Order is a true Equestrian Order of Knights (and Ladies) and not a fraternal society. It is tasked by the Pope with defending the Christians and the Holy Places of the Holy Land.  The order's main web site can found here  The following words are excerpted from a much fuller treatment of the history of the Order which is well worth reading:

"The origins of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem date back to the First Crusade, when its leader, Godfrey de Bouillon, liberated Jerusalem. Very soon after the First Crusade the troops - including the Knights of the Order of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre - began to return to their homelands.

"This led to the creation of priories all over Europe, which were part of the Order as they came under the jurisdiction of the noble knights or prelates who had been invested on the Holy Sepulchre itself and who, although they were no longer in the direct service of the King of Jerusalem, continued to belong to the Order of Canons.

"The Order first began to fail as a cohesive military body of knights after Saladin regained Jerusalem in 1182, and completely ceased to exist in that format after the defeat of Acre in 1291. The passing of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem left the Order without a leader, though it continued to survive in the European priories thanks to the protection of sovereigns, princes, bishops and the Holy See.

"The priories kept alive the ideals of the Crusader Knights: propagation of the Faith, defence of the weak, charity towards other human beings. With the exception of events in Spain, it was only rarely that the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre ever took part again in military action to defend Christianity.

"In the 14th century, the Holy See made an extremely high payment to the Egyptian Sultan so that he would grant the right to protect the Christian Sanctuaries to the Franciscan Friars Minor. Throughout the whole period of the Latin Patriarchate's suppression, the right to create new Knights was the prerogative of the representative of the highest Catholic authority in the Holy Land: the Custos.

"In 1847 the Patriarchate was restored and Pope Pius IX modernized the Order, issuing a new Constitution which placed it under the direct protection of the Holy See and conferred its government to the Latin Patriarch. The Order's fundamental role was also defined: to uphold the works of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, whilst preserving the spiritual duty of propagating the Faith.

"In 1949, Pius XII decreed that the Grand Master of the Order should be a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and assigned the position of Grand Prior to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. In 1962 Pope John XXIII and, in 1967, Pope Paul VI reorganized and revitalized the Order by adding more specific regulations to the Constitution with the intention of making the Order's activities more co-ordinated and more effective.

"In February 1996, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II enhanced the Order's status. Today it is a Public Association of faithful with a legal canonical and public personality, constituted by the Holy See under Canon Law 312, paragraph 1:1."

We ask our readers around the world to pray for Archbishop O'Brien, the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Christians in the Holy Land.

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