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<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10">Rosina Lila wrote....</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Palatino Linotype" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10">The Santiago newspapers also report that Prince Frey
Andrew Bertie, the chief of state of Malta, a Cardinal, and
the Grand Master of the Malta Order, arrived in Santiago yesterday with 225
Knights and Dames of Malta, from several countries, to pay homage to the
Apostle and to conduct a series of seminars with the thesis that the
Templars have perdured over a millennium through various organizations
worldwide.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"><FONT face=Arial> Frey Andrew
Bertie is not a Cardinal. He is not selected by the Pope to serve as a "Prince
of the Church". He is elected by the Council of his Order albeit that
election is routinely confirmed by the Pontiff because "Malta" is one of three
surviving non-Pontifical (that is, independent) religious orders of ancient
origin. This arrangement can be traced to the year 1607 when the Grand Master of
St John (i.e. "Malta") was first granted the title "Prince of the Holy Roman
Empire" by Emperor Rudolph II. That was an honorific gesture. In 1630, Pope
Urban VIII (1623-1644) followed suit by according the Grand Master a rank equal
to that of a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, but this was
done essentially for diplomatic purposes. In short, he has had the
dignity and status of the office but the Grand Master is not, and never has
been, a Cardinal, either de facto or de jure. </FONT></DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10">It is gratifying that the Knights of Malta have also
"Dames" and that they come from several countries. Personally, I have a
very soft spot in my heart for the Templars. I'd like to know how one goes
about joining a society that remembers and honors
them. </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"><FONT face=Arial>There are many existing groups that
claim some connection to the Templars. You may believe what you wish, but none
has ever demonstrated even a remote connection to the true Order of that name.
The real Templars were suppressed by Pope Clement V in the year 1312. That means
the charter (Bullium and apostolate) that had been issued to them by Pope
Innocent II in 1139 was withdrawn and they ceased to exist. As a consequence,
the present day Order of St. John and the Equestrian Order of the Holy
Sepoulchre of Jerusalem are the only remaining chivalric orders under Papal
protection whose mission approximates that of the Templars. The Teutonic
Knights is a third such Order to have reached modern times but it has admitted
only religious since 1929. Admission to all three is not the result of
application but of sponsorship by a responsible authority except in rare
instances.<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR>
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