Origins: In 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens (the ‘Founder’) approached King
Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and proposed creating
a monastic order for the protection of the pilgrims that travelled to the Holy Land. King Baldwin and Patriarch Warmund of Picquigny agreed to the request, and in
January 1120, the king granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing
of the royal
palace on the Temple Mount. The Order,
at the time being composed of nine knights including Godfrey de Saint-Omer and
André de Montbard, had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the order's
poverty. Mission Statement: Today, whilst keeping faith to the origins of the Knight Templars, the aim of the Organization known as “Priory of the Malta Knight Templars” is to set forth the guiding principles of the Knight Templars in the twenty-first century, by doing charitable works locally and abroad, as well as fund-raising to help all those in need. We forever dedicate ourselves to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
universal, Holy Christian Church that He founded. We are an ecumenical
Christian Priory, with admission open to all professing Christians, be it Roman
Catholics, Protestants, Anglican or Orthodox, regardless of church affiliation
or denomination. We look forward to the day when all Christian churches are
once again unified, and until that time pledge ourselves to act as a bridge
between the various denominations and congregations of the universal
Christian church. The Organisation shall reaffirm the charter of the Templars’ Founder and ensure that
the Organisation is never corrupted or have its principles compromised. The Organisation is a Priory and forms part of the International Templar Order
known as O.C.M.C.T. Pietas Pelicani – Ordine Civile e Militare dei Cavalieri
del Tempio Pietà del Pellicano, established in Reggio Calabria, Italy on the
31 st of May 2011. Under the guidance of the grandmaster, Avv. Antonino Aloi, as well as the Grand Prior Francesco Parruci, the Priory shall work towards a better world, towards better living conditions and help to embellish the rightful needs of the poor and the sick. Coat of Arms: The coat of arms of the Priory consists of a golden crown surmounted by a small cross, to indicate the Priory's membership in an Order with royal lineage, from which
hangs a red cloth, internally coloured white with a yellow border around the perimeter
of the cloak, dotted with black dots, in the center of which is a yellow shield with 8
black flames and, below, a yellow scroll with the acronym O.C.M.C.T., which means
Ordine Civile e Militare dei Cavalieri del Tempio. The official coat of arms of the International Order, founded in Brazil in 1939,
traditionally represents the family crest of a descendant of a Knight Templar who
escaped the atrocities of the French king and ended his days living peacefully in
Portugal. Later generations emigrated to Brazil during the Conquistador era and
settled there. In 1939, in São Paulo, Don Antonio de Sousa Fontes created the Civil
and Military Order of the Knights Templar as a World Templar Organization. The coat of arms also has an oval yellow plaque of the Pietas Pelicani, with the pelican feeding its young with its own blood.
