The Templars sue the Pope and demand the rehabilitation of the order, suspended in the year 1312

2023-10-11 20:21:05

The Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ Association, which claims to be the current Templars, has filed a conciliation lawsuit against Pope Francis in which it demands the rehabilitation of the order, suspended in the year 1312.

The plaintiffs state in the brief that the order was suspended “illegitimately” at the Council of Vienne not by virtue of “a judicial ruling” but by virtue of “an Apostolic Ordinance by Pope Clement V” and, they assert, that ” “This was a tremendous mistake pressured by King Philip the Fair.”

According to them, the Order was dissolved through an “infamous process without providing evidence.” “The number of knights at the date of arrest was 15,300, of which 650 were killed and 14,650 escaped, and their Grand Master Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake on March 18, 1314,” they report.

For this reason, they demand the “rehabilitation” of the Order of the Temple, currently called the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, although popularly known as the Order of the Poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon.

At the same time, the plaintiffs ask for financial compensation for the seizure of their assets which, as they indicate, “were mostly delivered to the Order of Saint John of the Hospital of Malta.”

Among other demands, they demand that the Templar priesthood be recognized; that they be authorized to build oratories and chapels; that the collection on St. Bernard’s Day in all parishes be for the Order; that the Vatican archives on the Order be handed over to them, and that the Church of the True Cross of Segovia be returned to them.

Likewise, they demand that all tortured and murdered medieval Templars be considered martyrs and that the Order be authorized to form “an army or armed body”, and to “intervene in religious conflicts and as a mediator between parties.”

The plaintiffs ask the Pope to proclaim a decree that includes all these agreements and that it be communicated in all parishes and convents. They also want the Order, once rehabilitated, to depend solely on the pontiff and not on the Curia or the clergy, like a personal prelature, and they demand a private audience with him.

This is not the first time that the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ has requested his rehabilitation. The last was a conciliation demand dated January 11, 2023 before the Court of First Instance 73.