Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa congratulated by members of the Order

“You, new Cardinals have come from different parts of the world, and the same Spirit that made the evangelization of your peoples fruitful now renews in you your vocation and mission in and for the Church,” said Pope Francis, meditating on the story of Pentecost, the “baptism of the Church”, during his homily at the recent Consistory celebration on September 30, during which he created the Patriarch of Jerusalem and Grand Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa, cardinal. “We are evangelizers to the extent we cherish in our hearts the wonder and gratitude of having been evangelized, even of being evangelized, because this is really a gift always present, that must be continually renewed in our memories and in faith. Evangelizers who have been evangelized, not functionaries,” added the Holy Father, then using an image to express what the College of Cardinals is called to resemble: “a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the Church.” “Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design,” he said, inviting us to have consoling confidence in the Holy Spirit: “He is the protagonist – as our master: the interior master of each one of us and the master of walking together. He creates variety and unity; He is harmony itself.”

Setting off in procession from the Palazzo della Rovere, a large delegation from the Order – comprising around a hundred Knights and Dames - took part in the Consistory in St Peter's Square, surrounding the Patriarch of Jerusalem in prayer as he received the cardinal's red hat and ring from the hands of Peter's successor and was given St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum as his titular parish church. In addition to the Cardinal Grand Master and the Governor General, members of the Grand Magisterium and numerous Lieutenants were present on behalf of the Order: Vice-Governors General Jean-Pierre de Glutz and Enric Mas, members of the Grand Magisterium, Flavio Rondinini, Helene Lund and Vincenzo Buonomo, Lieutenants from Switzerland-Liechtenstein, Donata Krethlow-Benziger, from England and Wales Michael Byrne, from Portugal, Bartolomeu da Costa Cabral, from Central Italy, Anna Maria Munzi Iacoboni, from Central Apennine Italy, Giuseppe Marrani, from Southern Tyrrhenian Italy, Giovanni Battista Rossi, from Sardinia, Marco Cantori, the Magistral Delegates from Latvia, Janis Smelters, and Norway, Hyan Nguyen.

They were able to personally congratulate the Patriarch of Jerusalem during the courtesy visits organized that same day, particularly greeting four other members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre among the new cardinals: Cardinal Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town and Grand Prior for South Africa; Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, Archbishop of Bogota and Grand Prior for Colombia; Cardinal Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, Bishop of Setúbal; and Cardinal Agostino Marchetto, Apostolic Nuncio and Archbishop of Astigi.

The following day, Sunday October 1, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a Mass of thanksgiving brought together the authorities and faithful from the Holy Land around Cardinal Pizzaballa, in a warm and festive atmosphere. The Order of the Holy Sepulchre was represented by the Governor General, Ambassador Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, the Chancellor, Ambassador Alfredo Bastianelli, the Treasurer, Dr Saverio Petrillo, as well as by members of the Grand Magisterium, Lieutenants and Magistral Delegates and numerous members of the Order. At the end of the celebration, the Governor General presented Cardinal Pizzaballa with a pectoral cross of the Order, on behalf of the 30,000 Knights and Dames from all over the world.

François Vayne

(October 2023)