The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (Latin: Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, OESSH), also called the Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See. The pope is the sovereign of the order. The order creates canons as well as knights, with the primary mission to "support the Christian presence in the Holy Land". It is an internationally recognised order of chivalry. The order is estimated to have some 30,000 knights and dames in 60 lieutenancies around the world. The Catholic Order is distinct from the Greek Orthodox "Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre", presided over by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The Cardinal Grand Master has been Fernando Filoni since 2019, and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is ex officio the Order's Grand Prior. Its headquarters are situated at the Palazzo Della Rovere and its official church in Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo, both in Rome, close to Vatican City. In 1994, Pope John Paul II declared the Virgin Mary as the order's patron saint under the title "Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine".
The order today remains an order of chivalry and is an association of the faithful with a legal canonical and public personality, constituted by the Holy See under Canon Law 312, paragraph 1:1, represented by 60 lieutenancies in more than 40 countries around the world: 24 in Europe, 15 in the United States and Canada, 5 in Latin America and 6 in Australia and Asia. It is recognised internationally as a legitimate order of knighthood, headquartered in Vatican City State under papal sovereignty and having the protection of the Holy See.
Its principal mission is to reinforce the practice of Christian life by its members in absolute fidelity to the pope; to sustain and assist the religious, spiritual, charitable and social works and rights of the Catholic Church and the Christians in the Holy Land, particularly of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem which receives some 10 million dollars annually in donations from members of the order. Other activities around the world are connected to their original functions.
Regional activities include participation in local processions and religious ceremonies, such as during Holy Week.
In France, the French Revolution resulted in a ban on conserving relics and all other sacred symbols linked to the monarchy, though pieces judged to be of high artistic quality were exempt. These relics were handed over to the archbishop of Paris in 1804 and are still held in the cathedral treasury of Notre Dame de Paris, cared for by the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the cathedral chapter. On the first Friday of every month at 3:00 pm, guarded by the Knights, the Relics of Sainte-Chapelle are exposed for veneration by the faithful before the cathedral's high altar. Every Good Friday, this veneration lasts all day, punctuated by the liturgical offices. An exhibition entitled Le trésor de la Sainte-Chapelle was mounted at the Louvre in 2001.
The Palazzo Della Rovere, the order's international headquarters where its Grand Magisterium is situated. In 1496, Pope Alexander VI vested the office of Grand Master in the papacy where it remained until 1949. Since 1949, cardinals have held the office. The incumbent Cardinal Grand Master has been Fernando Filoni since 2019.
The Grand Magisterium also includes:
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo, Grand Prior of the Order Tommaso Caputo, Prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Pompei, Assessor of the Order Count Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, Governor General P. Thomas Pogge, Vice-Governor General for North America Jean-Pierre Glutz-Ruchti, Vice-Governor General for Europe John Secker, Vice-Governor General for Asia and the Pacific region Enric Mas, Vice-Governor General for Latin America Alfredo Bastianelli, Chancellor of the Order Adriano Paccanelli, Master of Ceremonies of the Order Severio Petrillo, Treasurer of the Order Antonio Franco, Assessor of Honour Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Assessor of Honour The offices of the Grand Magisterium are in the headquarters in Rome.
Its headquarters are situated at the Palazzo Della Rovere in Rome, the 15th-century palace of Pope Julius II, immediately adjacent to the Vatican on the Via della Conciliazione. It was given to the order by Pope Pius XII. Its official church is the Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo in Rome, also given to the order by Pius XII. In 1307, after the suppression of the Knights Templars, the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, whose main priory was at San Luca, acquired the complex of San Manno. Francesco della Rovere, the future Pope Sixtus IV, was Arch-Prior there 1460–1471.
By ancient tradition, the order uses the arms attributed to the Kingdom of Jerusalem – a gold Jerusalem Cross on a silver/white background – but enamelled with red, the colour of blood, to signify the five wounds of Christ. Prior use of the symbol is in the 1573 Constitution of the Order. Conrad Grünenberg already shows a red Jerusalem cross (with the central cross as cross crosslet rather than cross potent) as the emblem of the order in his 1486 travelogue.
Above the shield of the armorial bearings is a sovereign's gold helmet upon which are a crown of thorns and a terrestrial globe surmounted by a cross, flanked by two white standards bearing a red Jerusalem cross. The supporters are two angels wearing dalmatic tunics of red, the one on the dexter bearing a crusader flag, and the one on the sinister bearing a pilgrim's staff and shell: representing the military/crusading and pilgrim natures of the order.
The motto is Deus lo Vult ("God Wills It"). The seal of the order is in the shape of an almond and portrays, within a frame of a crown of thorns, a representation of Christ rising from the Sepulchre.
The Order of the Holy Sepulchre and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta are the only two institutions whose insignia may be displayed in a clerical coat of arms.
