What to do to become a Templar?
See the dedicated section become Templars
Are women allowed too?
Yes.
Women with special responsibilities in the areas of assistance, charity and especially in the works of piety for the benefit of children, the old people and the sick are admitted.
Are the Christian Templars a clique that exercises occult power?
Absolutely not!
Unfortunately, the name “Templar” has been in recent history used for non-noble causes or for historically novels. For this reason, for the sake of transparency and public witness of Christian faith, all the actions we perform are public, verifiable by the Cardinals, Bishops, Abbots and Priests who know us and support our work and witnessed by the numerous photographs on-line on the official website, on the facebook page and on the twitter account.
Are the Templars Today related to any kind of supremacism or racist group?
No. The Templars Today are women and men that simply try to live their life based on Christian values following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Any other group using the Templars’ name for racist and suprematist ideals is misleading the original values of the Poor Soldiers of Christ born in the eleventh century in the Holy Land.
How much does it cost to be Templar?
The way of being to become Templar is a way where the internal degrees and the operational positions are not on sale. The only money required is 60$ per year, to pay the annual fee, then everyone pays for themselves the clothing and travel expenses.
Are you present in my city?
On our website is possible to see the “Commanderies” and “Lances” (support to the Commanderies and possible future Commanderies) active. The page is updated frequently, thanks to the rapid expansion of our reality.
Does the Catholic Church recognize you?
Given that we are unilaterally and unquestionably on the side of the Church of Rome and the Holy Father, we clarify that the Church welcomes us lovingly and allows us to work freely in numerous Italian dioceses, as a private association of the faithful (canons 215, 216, 299 Code of Canon Law).
Our presence in the Dioceses is the expression of the right of the faithful to meet in association, a right recognized by the Second Vatican Council (cf AA 19d, PO 9c) and by the Code of Canon Law (cf canon 215).
Where the objectives pursued are those of charity and piety, or the increase of the Christian vocation in the world, the faithful have the right to reunite with other faithful and to act in the sphere of autonomy. (a Bishop, 2016)
Are the Christian Templars Freemasons?
No.
We pursue the Christian Catholic Way, which is in contrast with Freemasonry (which implies immediate excommunication, by virtue of the repeated rulings by the first Holy Office and by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith).
Are the Christian Templars excommunicated?
No.
We are a private association of faithful established in accordance with the codes 215, 216 and 299 of the Code of Canon Law. Our reality, inspired by the ancient order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis, does not claim its lineage and is therefore a different reality (it is also denoted by the fact that we are laymen and not monks). Therefore there is no connection with the ancient Order of the Templars (any alleged direct link with the ancient Order is illegitimate and not true).
In addition, Chinon’s parchment found in the secret archive inside the Vatican in the year 2001 by Dr. Barbara Frale and containing the proceedings against the Templars, showed that in 1308 Pope Clement V granted sacramental absolution to the Grand Master Jacques de Molay as well to the remaining Knights Templars.
The Pope cleaned all excommunication and censorship, finally re-admitting them into the communion of the Catholic Church.
But the Papal bull “Vox in sublime” says that the Order is suppressed.
Yes.
Pope Clement V, to save the innocent Knights, adopted an “artifice” of canon law, “suppressing the Order in an administrative way” and excommunicating ipso facto who would try to restore it. This means that a new papal bull could rehabilitate it. Moreover, the excommunication indicated in the same bull has been confirmed only by the next pope (John XXII), but not by the following ones, so it is no longer active (as is the case for the freemasons).
In addition we are inspired by the Order that reborn in the eighteenth-century in France, in a lay form and no longer in a monastic, therefore different from the ancient one.
For more details see the dedicated page in the website.
In this regard, an excerpt of the opinion / sentence of Mons. Guido Ottria, Judicial Vicar of the ecclesiastic court belonging to the court of piedmont regional tribunal in first and second istance (Legal judgment)
“Legitimacy of the Order and its DenominationLegitimacy and Compliance.The Knights Templar of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple – Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon (ancient definition) were de facto readmitted in the communion of faithful Roman Catholic Christians having been stripped the Papal Bull Vox in Excelso (issued by Pope Clement V March 22, 1312 and with which the Templars excommunicated) from the new canon law promulgated by Pope John Paul II on January 25, 1983.Furthermore: “The code of canon law promulgated by Pope John Paul II on January 25th,1983 in canon 6 paragraph 1, n. 3, establishes that with the entry into force of the new code the following shall be repealed: “… leges poenales quaelibet, sive universales, sive particulares, Apostolic latae, nisi in hoc ipso codice recipiantur” (all the criminal laws, both universal and particular, promulgated by the Apostolic See, if they are not incorporated into this same code).Canon 58 paragraph 1 states: “… a singular decree ceases with the termination of the law for whose execution it was enacted”. Regarding the excommunication imposed on the Templars by Clement V, considering the ways in which the Pope had come to its emanation, one can also refer to the canon 125 which declares null and void a juridical act placed under insurmountable constraint and also to canon 126 declaring null and void the acts posed by ignorance or by mistake that relates to what constitutes the substance. I therefore consider the excommunication against the Templars devoid of any efficacy.
Alessandria, Sacre Ceneri 2008 (February 6th 2008, n.d.r.).In faith, Monsignor Guido OttriaVicar General of the Diocese of Alexandria “.
Are you an Association or an Order?
We are a private association of faithful structured internally as a Chivalric Order, that mean that we follow a discipline, a hierarchy and a spirituality that are inspired by the ancient orders of the medieval Christian chivalry.
If you are an Order, what kind of Order are you?
We are not and do not define ourselves as a chivalric order. We are a private association of faithful Catholics, internally organized as a traditional Christian chivalric order, inspired by the ancient Order of the “Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis” regarding the vocation of defense of the sacred places, of the pilgrims, the weak, the oppressed in full communion with the Catholic Church and the Pontiff.
We strongly believe that the way of the original chivalry, based on personal sacrifice for the common good, inspired by the First Knight, the White Knight Jesus Christ who first showed us the way of personal sacrifice and taught us to perform the bloodless sacrifice thanks to the Eucharist.
Are you feeling heirs of the ancient Templar Order suppressed in 1312?
In the sense of the values pursued yes.
We are a private association of faithful, not a chivalric order, but we are inspired by the values of the ancient Order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis regarding the vocation of defense of the sacred places, the pilgrims, the weak, the oppressed always in full communion with the Catholic Church and the Pontiff.
In what sense do you feel heirs?
We feel heirs with regard to the intent of guarding sacred places, increasingly abandoned and desecrated, and the defense of the weak and the pilgrims.
On the basis of what you confer the degrees and who, in turn, has conferred them on you?
The Association does not confer degrees publicly recognized by any State, the Catholic Church or other fons honorum. The degrees conferred have an internal value to the Association and reflect the degrees of the aforementioned ancient monastic-chivalric Order. Grades are granted “intuition personae” after a period of preparation of at least one year and a period of further preparation of 3 days consisting of fasting, prayer and meditation, followed by the “vigil of arms” standing in prayer in an ancient church alone , all night long.
If you consider yourself Catholics, in obedience to the Church and the Supreme Pontiff, how do you explain your existence if in the papal bull “Vox in Excelso” the Pope declares that: “With an irreformable and perpetual rule, we suppress the mentioned order of the Temple and its state, the rule, the habit and the name, and subject it to perpetual prohibition, strictly forbidding anyone to enter into that order or to receive and bring their dress and to present themselves as a Templar. If then someone does otherwise, ipso facto takes place in the sentence of excommunication “.
Our Association is inspired by the ancient Order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis, but does not pretend to represent it or recall it, since it was suppressed in 1312 and not having legitimate heirs currently alive.
Moreover, the aforementioned Order was composed of monks, who as such professed vows, and at the same time they was military. Our Association, on the other hand, is mostly composed of lay people active in various professional fields, including some in the armed forces. The Association does not therefore pretend to present itself as the Order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis, or as its direct official heir, but draws inspiration for its works and spirituality. It also draws inspiration regarding the name, by virtue of the vocation of custody and defense of the sacred temples of Christianity. Please note that the name “Catholic Templars Association of Italy” is different from the original “Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis” and the wording of “Catholics” is fundamental to differentiate us from the countless existing Masonic realities created only for material and / or economic purposes.
Why do you use the name of “Templars” and the symbols associated with them, if you recognize the historical authority of the Pope?
The adjective “Templar” from the Latin “templaris” coming from “templum”, “tempio” means “of the temple, of the temples” (vocabulary of the Italian language Treccani) and is a term commonly used in almost all the world’s cultures and religions.
The Association, in accordance with the vocation of custody and defense of the temples of Christ, uses this term in association with the terms “Catholics of Italy” and “Catholic of Italy” in obedience to the aforementioned bull, it does not use the ancient name of Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis.
What do you think about the Grand Masters of Philip of Orleans?
Philip of Orleans, regent of the throne of France from 1715 to 1723, constituted a new Lay Templar Order, without any recognition by the Catholic Church, in 1705. On that date the new Templarism officially born, constituted by Catholic realities and from reality of another kind. The latter have muddied the name “Templar” causing immense damage to the Church of Rome. One of the objectives of the Association is to help the Church definitively and officially to give back the name “Templar” in its loving arms and take it away from usurpers who constantly damage it and do not accept the above mentioned “Vox in Excelso” Papal bull.
Even if there had been an effective continuation of the Order after the suppression of 1312, as can be reconciled with the papal Bull mentioned earlier, which states: “We absolutely forbid anyone, whatever condition or state it belongs to, interfere in any way with regard to such persons or goods, make, innovate, attempt something that would prejudice our dispositions or provisions, establishing from now on that what anyone, consciously or unconsciously, would try to do in this sense will be null and ineffective “ .
Any kind of direct continuation of the same ancient Order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis is to be considered illegitimate and invalid, by virtue of the aforesaid bull and the authority recognized to the Pope.
Who had more authority? Any members of the Order remaining or the Pope?
The Pope, being the supreme authority of the same Order.
How do you think about the Italian separation of 1815 and 1867 from the rest of the Order of the Temple led by Fabré Palaprat and subsequent branches?
The separation was sacrosanct, given the explicitly Masonic and Gnostic positions pursued by the new guide of Fabré Palaprat and his descendants. The Italian branch, wanting to maintain a road alongside the Catholic Church, was forced to take such measures.
What is your position on Gastone Ventura’s succession to Alessandro Vettori?
Gastone Ventura brought the Italian Temple to Masonic positions that are not pursued by our Association. Alessandro Vettori was instead purely Catholic and led an Order still deployed with the Church of Rome, therefore pursuing ideals similar to those of our Association. Alessandro Vettori is the last recognized regent of the Order reborn in France and remained (only in Italy) on Catholic positions, even if not officially recognized by the Holy Roman Church. After the death of Alessandro Vettori in 1945, in fact, even that Order ended.
What value do you give to the dress and the sword during your celebrations?
The dress is inspired by that of the ancient Order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis. The white cloak of humble features that we carry indicates the purity to which we aspire and the red cross which is a patriot represents the blood sacrifice that Christ has accomplished for humanity and a clear public testimony of faith. The sword represents the cross that every templar carries in his life and the double symbolic battle against the enemies of the Faith of Christ and against his own weaknesses.
Why do you attribute titles, symbols and religious denominations (such as “novice”, “frà”, “brother”, “prior” and various symbols before the name) if you are mostly lay people, not belonging to any type of religious or secular Order recognized by the Church catholic?
This kind of titles are for internal use, given the inspiration to the ancient Order of the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis.
What value do you give to your motto: “Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini Tuo da Gloriam”?
The motto mentioned above reminds each associate of the importance of carrying out free actions not for personal gain or for vain glory, but to bring more the Kingdom of God on Earth and fulfill His will.