Order of Saint Lazarus (statuted 1910)

History

The turmoil of the French revolution (1789–1799) put an end to formal admission ceremonies to the medieval Order of Saint Lazarus though King Louis XVIII, previously grand master of the order admitted a number of knights while in exile. With the Bourbon Restoration, King Louis XVIII and his successor King Charles X both served as Protectors of the order which continued to be function under the management of a council of officers.

In 1831, the order lost its royal protection but was not abolished, since being originally a Papal-established order only the Pope could exclusively do so by a specific contrarius actus. This has never been forthcoming and hence the regulations relating to the order fall under the precepts of Canon Law which allows for an order to become extinct 100 years after the deaths of its last member. The last living member admitted before the French Revolution died in 1856. Hence, according to Canon law, the order would have become extinct in 1956. It has been argued that this itself was sufficient to allow the existence of the order right through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Contemporary documentation confirms that the order was active philanthropically in the mid-nineteenth century in Haifa; while definite admissions were made on the late nineteenth centuries. The order maintains that throughout the nineteenth century after 1841, the order enjoyed the protection of the Melkite Patriarch. In 1910, the order promulgated new statutes placing the management again under the Council of Officers and maintaining the protection of the Melkite Patriarch. A Grand Magistracy was re-established in 1935 with the appointment of Francisco de Borbón y de la Torre.

Notably, no matter if the modern establishment is to be attributed to 1841 under the Patriarch, to 1910 under the council of officers, or to 1935 under the re-erected Grand Magistracy of Francisco de Borbón y de la Torre - whether considered laicized or not - the enact would arguably not strictly be contrary to canon law.

Proposed early history of 1830–1910

After 1830, the French foundation of the Order of Saint Lazarus allegedly continued under the governance of a Council of Officers.

In 1841, according to later dated church authorities, the council of officers invited the Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church Maximos III Mazloum (1779–1855) to become spiritual protector of the order, thence re-establishing a tangible connection with the order's early roots in Jerusalem in the Holy Land.

Indications propose that members supported the rebuilding of the Mount Carmel Monastery in Haifa, Palestine, then under the responsibility of the Melkite Patriarch, while contemporary biographies indicate late 19th-century individuals as having been members of the Order of Saint Lazarus.

In the years that followed, according to the order's own accounts, new knights were admitted. These included admirals Ferdinand-Alphonse Hamelin and Louis Édouard Bouët-Willaumez (1853), comtes Louis François du Mesnil de Maricourt and Paul de Poudenx (1863), comte Jules Marie d'Anselme de Puisaye (1865), vicomte de Boisbaudry (1875), comte Jules Marie d'Anselme de Puisaye (1880 as a hospitaller while living in Tunisia), baron Yves de Constancin (1896), who was later to become commander of the Hospitaller Nobles of Saint Lazarus. The latter was also a knight of the Order of Isabella the Catholic and of Order of Saint Anna of Russia.

1910–1961

In 1910, a statute was promulgated by a Council of Officers composed of Roman Catholics, subsequently including Paul Watrin, Anselme de la Puisaye, Alexandre Gallery de la Tremblaye, Charles Otzenberger-Detaille, as well as Polish Catholic priest John Tansky, among others. This statute explicitly placed the governance in the hands of the magistracy whose decisions were sovereign and irrevocable, thus manifested as a laicised order, albeit with Patriarch Cyril VIII Jaha of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church as confirmed protector.

The order continually attracted members from the French nobility and by the early 20th century it was attracting knights from further afield, notably Spain and Poland.

In 1935, Don Francisco de Borbón y de la Torre, Duke of Seville, Grand Bailiff of the order in Spain and Lieutenant-General of the Grand Magistracy since 1930, was appointed Grand Master, allegedly authorised so by his cousin, King Alfonso XIII of Spain - thus, according to the order's account, re-establishing the office, vacant since 1814 following the French Revolution. Francisco de Borbón y de la Torre remained Grand Master of the order 1935–1952.

There has since been a Spanish Borbón Grand Master at the helm of the order except for a short interregnum where the Grand Master belonged to the French House of Bourbon family, which occurred in 1969, with the election of the Duke of Brissac as Grand Master with the approval of the Count of Paris, head of the Royal House of France, solicited by the Patriarch Maximos V.

1961 onwards; schisms and obediences

In 1961, Colonel Robert Gayre was appointed Bailiff and Commissioner-General for the order in the English-speaking world with responsibility for expanding the order's membership in that area. Up to then, non-Catholic Christians had been accepted only as affiliate members of the order. Gayre accepted the appointment on condition that henceforth Protestants would be eligible for full membership. The Paris authorities reluctantly agreed and Gayre took as a model to emulate the British Protestant Most Venerable Order of St. John. From this time, although the majority of its members and clergy remained Roman Catholic, the order began to identify itself as an ecumenical order of chivalry,

In 1969, disagreement relating to the management and direction of the order led to a major schism which was to result in two major fractions, which came to be known as 'obediences'. The majority of the membership, including nearly all the anglophone members, were led by a series of Spanish Bourbon Grand masters, and came to be known as the Malta obedience, as Gayre was headquartered there. The francophone members became the Paris obedience led by members of the de Brissac family as Grand masters.

The decades that followed were punctuated by a series of attempts at reuniting the two branches, most significantly in 1986, when a significant portion of the anglophone membership in the Malta obedience - including most of those in the U.S., rejoined the Paris obedience.

2004: Orléans obedience

In 2004, the Paris obedience underwent a further schism, breaking off from the de Brissac leadership, with the formation of the Orléans obedience under the headship of Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou, thus enjoying the temporal protection of the Head of the Royal House of France Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris,le duc de l'oncle de Anjou.

In 2010, Charles-Philippe resigned as 49th grand master to become Grand Master Emeritus, and was succeeded by his maternal uncle the Czech CountCount Jan Dobrzenský z Dobrzenicz.

In 2012, Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris, temporarily removed his royal protection from the Orleans Obedience. Again, on 31 January 2014, Henri d'Orléans expressly stated that only he can represent the Royal House of France and that "cette protection temporelle leur a été retirée par ma démission es qualités, notifiée à Pâques 2012. .... Toute référence à une quelconque protection temporelle actuelle de la Maison Royale de France, est donc pure affabulation et mensonge". which he reconstituted again, at least temporarily in February 2014.

However, on 8 September 2014, Henri d'Orléans restored his temporal protection of the Order of Saint Lazarus (by jus sanguinis) and attached it as a Lieutenancy to his revival of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He explained that this amalgamation was established to defend the cultural heritage of France and to assure that the Order of Saint Lazarus continues its hospitaller missions of mercy and care. A declaration published by the Order of Saint Lazarus by the Saint Lazarus Grand Magisterium, its Government Council and its Constitutional Council welcomed this amalgamation under Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris, as affirming again, "more than ever" the legitimacy of the order. An attached declaration confirmed that the protection of Saint Lazarus by the Royal House of France was represented within the order by Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou as Grand Master Emeritus and Grand Prior of France. Moreover, the Count of Paris, noted in his blog, that the statutes of the ancient combined orders, as well as those of the attached Lieutenancy of Saint Lazarus, were in accordance with the 1901 French law on associations, deposited and accepted by the Grand Chancellor of the National Order of the Legion of Honor.

There is no scholarly consensus of the exact scope of a dynast's fons hornorum. Some argue that the heads of formerly regnant houses, like the Count of Paris, by right of blood (jure sanguinis), can (jus honorum) even create or revive household orders moto proprio as an inviolable family prerogative. Prominent Italian Jurist and president of chamber of the Italian Republic’ highest court of appeal the Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Ercole Tanturri expressed the idea of heritable sovereignty as "a perpetual quality, indelibly linked and united in the centuries to all the offspring of one who first achieved or claimed and is realized in the person of the Head of Name and Arms of Dynasty. . ." This thinking is reflected in the February 2011 statement of legitimacy for the Order of St. Lazarus, which avers that "the temporal protection of the Order guaranteed by H.R.H. the Count of Paris, Duc de France, Head of the Royal House of France, as its fons honorum assures the traditional and historical legitimacy of the Order, with the added grace of ensuring that The Order is not in the patrimony of the Royal House of France." Thus, even the Orleanist order of St. Lazar disavows that it is a dynastic foundation, but rather a historic canonical and French royal institution that is protected by the fons of the current claimant to the defunct French thrown. This debate, aside, the influential Genealogist Louis Mendola concede's that Henri’s royal patronage should certainly protect the Orleanist group from being lumped together with obviously "self-styled" groups and is at least, if not more, a "quasi-chivalric confraternity dedicated to charitable work." Still others argue that the Count of Paris can simply do what he wants as a fountain of honor, including create a new order or revive an old one. This notion is captured in the idea that "Orléans' Order as protected by the count of Paris, is a "legitimate and valid chivalric order since the Royal House of France is indeed a fount of honor. One can even argue that it would be a sort of revival of the ancient Order that was merged with the Order of Mt. Carmel by the French Crown in the 17th century" Finally, the formal link between the Orleanist Order and the Holy See has been ensured by the spiritual guidance of His Eminence Cardinal Dominik Duka, who followed in this role, Cardinal László Paskai, former Primate of Hungary where the order has formal governmental recognition.

On December 10, 2016 Jan Count Dobzensky z Dobrzenicz, 50th grand master of the Order of St. Lazarus was knighted by His Holiness Pope Francis as a Commander of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great. Also elevated into the order of Saint Sylvester Pope and Martyr, was the order's Herald for the Grand Priory of Bohemia, Chev. Zdirad Jan Krtitel Cech, who entered as a knight.

2008: Malta-Paris obedience

In 2008, the previously separate Malta and Paris obediences formally reunited into the Malta-Paris Obedience under the headship of Carlos Gereda y de Borbón and the Spiritual Protectorship of Melchite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch Gregory III Laham.

On 27 May 2012, Gregory III Laham signed the aforementioned declaration in Kevelaer, Germany, confirming the continuity of the order (under the united Malta-Paris obedience) under the Patriarchs of Antioch since his predecessor Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum had accepted the role of Spiritual Protector of the order in 1841.

2010: Jerusalem obedience

In 2010, there was a further split within the Orléans obedience, requiring the Count of Paris to clarify that his temporal protection would remain with the obedience under Count Jan Dobrzenský z Dobrzenicz (Orléanist) as opposed to those who had broken away to form their own group under the leadership of Count Philippe Piccapietra who had previously been a member of the team led by Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou.

Piccapietra went on to establish Saint Lazare International in 2012 with its headquarters in Jerusalem. This 'Jerusalem obedience' now has as its Grand Master, Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma and enjoys the spiritual patronage of Anglican Bishop Richard Gerard, emeritus Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See.

Purpose

The purpose of the Order is to "care and assistance of the sick and the poor, and to the support and defense of the Christian faith and the traditions and principles of Christian chivalry."

Charity

In recent years the order participate in worldwide humanitarian efforts. It has been engaged in a major charitable program to revive Christianity in Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and the Near East: Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian territories. Millions of dollars worth of food, clothing, medical equipment and supplies have been distributed by the LHW-volunteers of the Humanitarian Grand Priory Europe (GPEU) in Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Croatia and Macedonia. Because of this experience, the European Community commissioned the LHW-volunteer organisation Lazarus-Hilfswerk to transport more than 21,000 tons of food to the hungry in Russia and to distribute it in St. Petersburg, Novorod and Moscow. The Order organised with the LHW food aid and managed reconstruction projects after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

The various jurisdictions still undertake to support the modern fight against leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD).

Insignia and vestments

For the Order of Saint Lazarus ceremonial occasions, such as investitures, the members wear distinctive vestments and insignia. The mantle of the order is a black cloak with a green velvet collar and the cross of the order sewn onto the left side. The mantle is always worn at religious ceremonies. In addition to the mantle and insignia members of the order normally wear white gloves and ladies may also wear a mantilla in church.

The insignia of a knight is a badge with military trophy pendant from a green neck ribbon, and a golden breast star. Dames of the order wear the badge with wreath of laurel and oak springs from a ribbon bow and a golden breast star. A green button hole rosette may also be worn on a business suit by gentlemen of the order.

Membership

Membership of the Order of Saint Lazarus is by invitation only and is an honour granted by the Grand Magistry of the order. The order include among their members people of the European nobility, academics, politicians and senior clergy. Membership in the order is divided into two classes, knights of justice and knights of magistral grace, the former restricted to members of families with noble titles. All members of the order are invested in one of the following ranks, regardless of whether they qualify for justice or magistral grace:

Men who are invested in the rank of knight (KLJ) or higher are entitled to the prenominal Chevalier. Women invested in the rank of Dame or higher are entitled to the prenominal Dame.

In the Orleans obedience, full membership is restricted to those aged 25 or above, although a noviciate membership level is open to those aged 18 or above.

There is also a companionate which is often used to honour individuals who have supported the work of the order or who have made a significant contribution to society.

Status, controversy and recognition

Although the Order enjoys the individual recognition of multiple ecclesial, royal and other dignitaries, the legitimacy including fount of honour of both branches of the modern Order of Saint Lazarus continues to be debated by historians and by the private, self-appointed International Commission on Order of Chivalry (ICOC) which does not include the MHOLJ on its Provisional List of Orders (2010) and argues that:

Despite the claims of those who believe this Order continued to flourish during the 19th century, there is no evidence to support such a survival, which, in any case, would have had no legal or statutory basis; the present body styling itself the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is entirely a modern, 20th century, and private foundation. Accordingly, in France, the purported mother country of Saint Lazarus, the modern organization has been prohibited from using the designation ‘order’ and wear chivalric insignia.

Finally, the Order was originally a religious foundation, established by Papal Bull and the grant of various privileges by successive Popes, and the decision to allow the Order to become extinct was not challenged by the Holy See which has repeatedly condemned the modern revival.

Catholic Church

The "condemnations" mentioned by the ICOC above were unofficially published in the L'Osservatore Romano, possibly in contravention of Canon Law, as the MHOLJ existed as Canonical entity until 1956.

In a note of clarification from the Secretariat of State, headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, the Holy See has made an official statement clarifying that it only recognizes its own orders:

In response to frequent requests for information concerning the recognition by the Holy See of Equestrian Orders dedicated to the saints or to holy places, the Secretariat of State considers it opportune to reiterate what has already been published, namely that, other than its own Equestrian Orders (the Supreme Order of Christ, the Order of the Golden Spur, the Pian Order, the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, and the Order of Pope Saint Sylvester), the Holy See recognises and supports only the Sovereign Military Order of Malta - also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta - and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The Holy See foresees no additions or innovations in this regard.

All other orders, whether of recent origin or mediaeval foundation, are not recognised by the Holy See. Furthermore, the Holy See does not guarantee their historical or juridical legitimacy, their ends or organisational structures.

However, since 2012, the Vatican has ceased to specifically list orders it does not acknowledge in order to simply list those Catholic ones that it actually does.

The last living member admitted before the French Revolution died in 1856. Hence, according to Canon law, the order would have become extinct 100 years later, in 1956. In the interim, the order in 1910 had secularized itself under the protection of the Melkite Patriarch and hence was no longer under the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church. Notably, no matter if the modern establishment is to be attributed to 1841 under the Patriarch, to 1910 under the Council of Officers, or to 1935 under the re-erected Grand Magistracy of Francisco de Borbón y de la Torre - whether considered laicized or not - the enact would arguably not strictly be contrary to the Canon law.

Notwithstanding, ever since the statutes of 1910, a number of prominent Catholic prelates, including Cardinals, have acted as chaplains in different positions of the order.

The Malta-Paris obedience enjoys as Spiritual Protector the Patriarch of Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Gregory III Laham. On 27 May 2012, Gregory III Laham signed a declaration in Kevelaer, Germany, confirming the continuity of the order (under the united Malta-Paris obedience) under the Patriarchs of Antioch since his predecessor Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum had accepted the role of Spiritual Protector of the order in 1841. Previously, Cardinal Basil Hume was a member of the order in England as is his successor Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor. The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell is a former national chaplain and member of the order in Australia. The present Ecclesiastical Grand Prior of the order is H.E. The Most Reverend Archbishop Michele Pennisi, EGCLJ (Sicily, Italy).

The Orléans obedience enjoys as Spiritual Protector Cardinal Dominik Duka, and previously enjoyed Cardinal László Paskai, former Primate of Hungary, in the position.

National legal authorities

In Spain, the order received recognition from the state through a number of legal documents.

The Orleans obedience enjoys perceived recognition as per a government communiqué and other cooperation efforts in and of Czech Republic.

Royalties

King Juan Carlos I of Spain allowed his kinsman don Carlos Gereda y de Borbon to accept the position of Grand Master of the order (Malta-Paris obedience) in 2008.

The Orléans obedience claims the protection of Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris. In 2004, the count of Paris allowed his nephew Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou to take the position of 49th Grand Master of the order in the Orléans obedience. Following the split of the Paris obedience in 2004 that led to the establishment of the Orléans obedience of the Order of Saint Lazarus under Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou, Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris, head of the Orléanist branch of the House of Bourbon, re-established his temporal protection. In 2010, the Prince resigned and since, the Grand Master of the Orléans obedience is Count Jan Dobrzenský z Dobrzenicz.

Malta-Paris obedience

A number of royal houses are represented among the knights of the order, including Prince David Bagrationi of Moukhrani of Georgia, Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, Crown Prince of Ethiopia.

Also, the Patriarch Abune Paulos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

In the United Kingdom the order has counted several senior aristocrats among its membership. The Rt. Hon. Earl Ferrers was the grand prior of England and Wales (Malta obedience) until March 2012 when he was replaced by the 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury, who was in turn replaced in 2013 by the Marquess of Lothian. In Scotland Viscount Gough is head of the grand bailiwick of Scotland.

In Ireland, Denis O'Conor Don, Chief of the Name O'Conor and principal claiment to the High Kingship of Ireland, was a knight of justice in the order as well as Juge d'Armes of the Grand Priory of Ireland. Other noble families are also represented among the order's membership in Ireland, including O'Morchoe, Bunbury and Guinness.

The grand priory of Australia is under the patronage of the Governor-General of Australia Quentin Bryce. In New Zealand, the Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae is both a knight and patron of the order, and the Māori King Tuheitia Paki is a knight commander of the order.

Orléans obedience

Martin Thacker, the feudal Baron of Fetternear, is the Grand Prior of Orléans obedience in Great Britain. In Portugal is the Grand Prior Francisco Fonseca da Silva, Marquis et Comte d' Ervededo and Grand Prior for Lusophone Africa is Abel de Lacerda Botelho, Comte de Ribadouro. In Poland is the Spiritual Prior Bishop Jan Tyrawa.