Archbishop made Grand Prior of ancient charitable order

Archbishop Paul Cremona has been made Grand Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem for Malta.

The Order is an ancient religious order of chivalry that traces back its origins to the First Crusade. Being a major Catholic Order of Knighthood, under the direct protection of the Holy See, it has a worldwide mission to sustain and aid the charitable, cultural and social works and institutions of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, particularly those of and in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with which the Order maintains traditional ties. The Order has some 18,000 members around the globe.

Carlo Cardinal Furno, Grand Master, received Mgr Cremona at Palazzo della Rovere, also known as Palazzo Dei Penitenzieri, the Order's headquarters in Rome, on June 30, where the investiture ceremony took place.

In the Knights' chapel of Palazzo della Rovere, frescoed by Pinturicchio, the Cardinal Grand Master invested Mgr Cremona and admitted him into the Order in the grade of Ecclesiastical Knight Grand Officer (Knight Commander with Star). During the same ceremony the Archbishop was given the decree whereby Cardinal Furno installed him as Grand Prior of the Order's Lieutenancy of Malta.

Immediately following the investiture the Cardinal Grand Master bestowed upon Victor Licari, Lieutenant for Malta, the Grade of Knight of the Grand Cross. This singular honour is the highest grade that a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem can attain other than for the Grade of Knight of the Collar which is reserved for the Cardinal Grand Master and the highest officials of the Grand Magisterium.

This was Cardinal Furno's last official function as Grand Master of the Order. He has now been replaced by Mgr John Patrick Foley, an American Archbishop who had been serving as the President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication at the Vatican.