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Like
other Orders of Chivalry, the Military and Hospitaller Order of
Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem has, from earliest days, had its own
Chaplains, originally professed clerics, later religious and
secular priests attached to the Order and, more recently, also
ministers of various denominations.
The
following examples of the pre-Vatican-II position of the Order
in respect of commitment to defending the Faith and to ecumenism
serve to highlight a very important integral part of the
Order’s ancient tradition.
After
Vatican II, the need both for defending the Faith and for
ecumenism, is certainly no less than before, only the scope is
much wider, with many more denominations participating in the
Work of the Order. This is a new development with wonderful
possibilities.
“Real
development is not leaving things behind, as on a road, but
drawing life from them, as from a root.” (C .K. Chesterton)
1.
On Ascension Day, the 26th May, 1949, the 44th Grand
Master, Don Francisco de Paula de Borbon y de la Torre, iure
uxoris Duke of Seville, promulgated a new General
Instruction for the Order. he first three articles merely
repeated those of his predecessors of centuries ago, especially
Charles de Nérestang, and The Marquis de Dangeau, 38th
and 40th Grand Masters respectively:
“II.
- RELIGION. Le Grand Maître et tous les Lazaristes protestent
à l’univers que l’unique privilège qu’ils prétendent
conserver est de vivre et de mourir unis, plus étroitement que
tous les autres chrétiens, au Sainte-Siège et à son Eglise”.
"III.
- BUT. L’Ordre a été institué pour défendre l’Eglise
contre les ennemis de la Fois, aider et secourir les pèlerins,
les malades et les pauvres. Il donne une attention spéciale aux
lépreux et, pour tenir compte de son origine en Terre Sainte
durant les premiers siècles de l’ère chrétienne, doit prêter
aide aux catholiques orientaux et aux pèlerins qui visitent les
lieux saints. L’Ordre prie et travaille pour l’union des
Eglises chrétiennes orientales sous la suprême autorité du
Pontife romain.”
2.
The 45th Grand Master, Don Francisco Enrique de
Borbon y de Borbon, on the Feast of St Lazarus 1959, the day of
his inauguration, wrote in a letter to the Duc de Brissac,
Administrator General of the Order:
“J’exprime
aussi mes remerciements ... à tous ceux de nos Chevaliers
et Chapelains qui ont compris que s’engager dans un Ordre
c’est accepter une mission.”
“Une
mission! Mon vénéré père, le duc de Seville, précisait -
dans la proclamation qu’il addressa, en avril 1931, lors de
son avènement à la charge dans laquelle je lui succédé - que
la mission de notre Ordre était double: la lutte contre la lèpre
par l’aide aux léproseries, la lutte contre le schisme en
travaillant à l’unité de l’Eglise dans la charité et la
bienfaisance.”
"Comment,
à l’heure où Sa Sainteté le pape Jean XXIII prépare le
Concile Oecuménique ne pas insister sur notre mission d’oecuménisme
que mon père signalait déjà il y a plus de vingt-huit ans?
Notre Ordre compte, parmi ses membres, des catholiques latins,
grecs, arméniens, etc.; il s’est associé, dans son aide aux
léproseries, des frères séparés. Par nos prières, par nos
travaux, par notre charité, unissons-nous tous aux efforts qui
sont faits por que s’approche le jour où il n’y aura
qu’un seul troupeau et un seul Pasteur.”
3.
The Grand Capitular of the Order, Paul Bertrand de la Grassière,
writes in his book L’Ordre Militaire et Hospitalier de Saint
Lazare de Jérusalem (Paris 1960), p. 171:
“L’Ordre
de Saint-Lazare, du fait qu’il a été religieux et qu’il
est toujours militaire, garde dans sa double mission la défence
de la Foi catholique ; il n’accepte comme membres que des
personnes professant la religion catholique, apostolique et
romaine; mais, ayant eu son berceau dans l’Eglise d’Orient,
il admet avec joie, en même temps que les catholiques latins,
le chrétiens des églises orientales rentrées dans l’Unité
de l’Eglise: grecs melchites catholiques, arméniens
catholiques, maronites, syriens catholique, coptes, etc.
Toutefois,
en tant qu’ordre hospitalier et ce depuis sa sécularisation
(1772), il s’agrège, comme affiliés, des personne qui, sans
participer à sa mission de défence de la foi catholique,
contribuent à son oevre contre la souffrance humaine, aussi
bien des catholiques non pratiquants ou désirant garder plus
d’indépendence que des membres des confessions séparées de
l’Eglise romaine. Il leur demande la déférence à l’égard
de l'Eglise et du Souverain Pontife et il souhait qu’ils
s’associent à ses prières pour que vienne le jour où il y
aura un seul troupeau et un seul Pasteur.”
4.
Still in 1960, the application for admission to the Order as a
Knight of Justice or Knight of Devotion (Roman-Catholic
Christians of Latin or Oriental rite) contained the following
undertaking: “Je m’engage à servir la Foi catholique ainsi
qu’a collaborer, dans la mesure de mes moyens, aux oevres
entreprises ou encouragées par l’Ordre et à employer tous
mes soins à sa conservation, à son accroissement et à sa
splendeur.”
Applications
for admission to the Order in the category of Merit
(non-Catholic Christians) contained the undertaking: “Je déclare
en outre m’associer aux prières de l’Ordre pour l’Unité
de l’Eglise, afin qu’elle forme un jour un seul troupeau
sous un seul Pasteur.”
5.
To accommodate, inter alia, members of the Anglican Communion,
the Grand Master issued a decree (DM 59), dated 28th
June 1962, establishing two new categories of Affiliates of the
Order:
“Rappelant
l’importance de l’union des églises et celle du Concile
Oecumenique, le Prince Grand Maître a, dans cet ésprit, décidé
d’accueillir fraternellement dans l’Ordre les membres des églises
chrétiennes non catholiques don’t les evêques font partie
des hiérarchies épiscopales qui reçurent leur investiture de
façon non interrompue de ceux que, de leur temps, se séparèrent
du Saint Siège de Rome. A cet effet, le Grand Maître a decidé:
Nous
considérons qu’il convient d’ordonner la création de deux
nouvelles classes d’affiliées, les dénommant de Grâce et
d’Honneur respectivement, qui ne pourraient être destinées
qu’aux candidates chrétiens non catholiques mentionnés plus
haut. Les deux classes de Grâce et d’Honneur seront égales
quant aux insignes, preuves de noblesse, démarches et
conditions aux deux traditionelles existantes de Dévotion et de
Justice.
Nous
chargeons à cet effet M. le Grand Référendaire, S.Exc. le
Marquis de Cardenas, de communiquer ce décret magistral à M.
l’Administrateur Général Central de l’Ordre, S. Exc. le
Duc de Brissac, afin qu’il dicte les instructions nécessaires
pour mettre en vigeur ces nouvelles dispositions crées pour le
bien de l’Ordre.”
“Les
règles essentielles d’un Ordre traditionnel ne changent pas;
mais leur expression et les dispositions réglementaires peuvent
suivre l’évolution des temps et aussi, il devient parfois nécessaire
de les interpréter, afin de maintenir une communauté de vues."
(Paul Bertrand de la Grassière, Grand Capitular)
6.
The Rev’d. Thomas Veitch CLJ MA FSA Scot ; Rector of the
Church of St Paul & St George, Edinburgh (Episcopal Church
of Scotland); Chairman of the Ecumenical Commission of the
Scottish Grand Bailiwick OSLJ ; wrote in an article titled
“Rome and the Eastern Rites” (Green Cross Booklets, no. 1,
September 1962), p. 7:
“One
must recognise that, on any scheme for Church union put forward,
the Roman Church must be taken into account. However many other
Churches may achieve some form of union, in the end we must come
to terms with Rome.”
7.
Sadly, the concept of ecumenism is often misunderstood and
interpreted as a licence to compromise in matters of faith and
doctrine. In the following issue of the Green Cross Booklets
(no.2, March 1963, p. 8) the Very Rev’d. Walter H. de Voil MA
PhD, Dean of Brechin in the Episcopal Church of Scotland, gave
the following sound advice:
“Individual
Christians, anxious to promote greater unity, should refrain
from acts which may retard rather than promote unity, i.e. the
acts of an individual should, in all normal circumstances, be
not only his own, but should have the countenance and authority
of the ”[ecclesiastical]“ Obedience to which he is normally
subject.”
8.
In February 1969, the Grand Master, Prince Charles Philippe
d’Orléans, abolished the distinction between Catholics and
non-Catholic Knights of the Order and transferred the latter
from the category of Affiliates to that of Members. This
provoked a rebellion which resulted in the un-constitutional
“dismissal” of the Grand Master and split the Order into a
“Paris-Obedience” and a “Malta-Obedience”; the former
maintaining the Catholic nature of its part of the Order for a
few more years.
9.
On 16th June 2000, Pope John Paul II ratified and
confirmed the Declaration “Dominus Iesus”, and
ordered its publication. This is the current official Vatican
view:
“17.
Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which
subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of
Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. The Churches
which, while not existing in perfect communion with the Catholic
Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that
is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true
particular Churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present
and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full
communion with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept the
Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, ...
On
the other hand, the ecclesial communities which have not
preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral
substance of the Eucharistic mystery, are not Churches in the
proper sense”.
10.
Article XV in the Constitution of the Order (Malta-Obedience),
Section 4, stipulates about the admission to the Order of
members of the clergy:
“All
priests and ministers of the Christian faith are admitted as
Chaplains of the Order. Candidates for admission to the Order
who are priests or ministers must submit, in addition to the
documentation required by Section 1 of this Article XV, proof
from the appropriate ecclesiastical superior of the candidate
attesting to the fact that the candidate has been validly
ordained and is in good standing as a minister or priest of his
particular denomination.”
Although
the above article may appear vague and easy to misinterpret,
seen in the light of the tradition of the Order, it becomes
clear that it is exclusive rather than inclusive. However, to
avoid future problems originating from an uninformed literal
interpretation of article XV, Section 4., clear guide lines
should be drawn up by the Order. Ideally, one qualification
should be inserted and the section slightly re-worded to begin:
“Priests and ministers of the Christian faith professing the
Nicene Creed may be admitted as Chaplains of the Order” ...
Remembering
the Catholic tradition of the Order and its pronounced
commitment to ecumenism, the following ecclesiological
issues need to be addressed in respect of the appointing of
Chaplains to the Order:
A)
A definition of what qualifies as a Church; only membership of,
or affiliation to the World Council of Churches as well?
B)
The attitude to female ministers; can the Order afford to break
with tradition and risk to repel ecclesiastics of the Catholic
and Orthodox Churches and others for the sake of the feminist(?)
invention of “political correctness”?
C)
The attitude to “Episcopi Vagantes” and connected
irregular phenomena; can the Order risk to lose the support of
ecclesiastics of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, the Church
of England, and others in exchange for the services of some
“prelate” of questionable credentials?
An
inquiry to the Most Venerable Order of Saint John has
established that, in principle, their Chaplains are Anglican.
There is provision for one Catholic and one Free-Church Chaplain
within the Venerable Order in England. Both positions, however,
remain vacant. In Scotland, their Chaplains are generally
Presbyterian. Information about the situation in the Overseas
Priories was not available at St John’s Gate. Members of
the Most Venerable Order are supposed to be Christian, but not
necessarily Anglican.
Since
the Johanniter Orden (in Germany, Sweden, and Finland) is
exclusively Lutheran, and the Johanniter Orde in Holland
exclusively Calvinist, there are no Chaplains of other
denominations.
PRO
UNITATE ECCLESIAE
Oremus:
Omnipotens
et misericors Deus,
qui
diversitatem gentium in unum populum per Filium tuum adunare
voluisti,
concede
propitius ut, qui christiano nomine gloriantur,
qualibet
divisione reiecta, unum sint in veritate et caritate,
et
omnes homines, verae fidei lumine illustrati,
in
unam Ecclesiam fraterna communione conveniant.
Per
Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen. |
