Well, au contraire, according to the article the Templars never "ceased to exist" but merely went "underground." Furthermore,
"Ben Acheson, a member of a Templar order based in Hertford, Hertfordshire, which claims direct descent from the original Poor Fellow Soldiers of Jesus Christ and the Temple of Solomon Grand Preceptory, called for Pope Benedict XVI to apologise formally."So, presumably, European monarchs are still under orders to arrest Templars, AND they are still officially "dissolved" AND the Hospitaliers still have a claim on their assets.
Joan of Arc was declared a heretic (for wearing men's clothing) in 1431 and burned alive at the stake. In 1456 the Pope initiated a second trial (they reinterviewed all the original witnesses still living) and, in the end, declared the earlier trial null and void and rehabilitated her. Why do this, after all, as you say, what's done is done? There are many good reasons, for one, to satisfy and comfort her mother, also, to give her good name back, also to honor Joan as a good example and role model, and finally, to honor justice and truth which the church claims to be in favor of.
No, the Templars were disbanded. Theer is no Templar Order. All such claimants are wackos, nuts, Masons, etc.
Ben Acheson is a nut: http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=0620 Read the end of the article to see what I mean.
You wrote:
“So, presumably, European monarchs are still under orders to arrest Templars, AND they are still officially “dissolved” AND the Hospitaliers still have a claim on their assets.”
Wrong on all counts. 1) There are no Templars to arrest, and few Catholic monarchs to arrest them if they existed. 2) The Order is not “still” dissolved, but simply dissolved. Once dissolved, it is gone. It cannot be taken back. A new order would have to be created, and there is no need and no good to come from that effort. 3) The Hospitallers have no claim to Templar assets. They own what they own. It’s that simple. There are no Templar assets because there are no Templars. Period.
“Joan of Arc was declared a heretic (for wearing men’s clothing) in 1431 and burned alive at the stake.”
No. Joan of Arc was NOT declared a heretic because of what she wore.
“In 1456 the Pope initiated a second trial (they reinterviewed all the original witnesses still living) and, in the end, declared the earlier trial null and void and rehabilitated her. Why do this, after all, as you say, what’s done is done?”
Simple. Correct procedure was not followed in the original trial. The Templar trials, no matter how unjust by our modern standards, were conducted properly according to medieval law, and the Templars long since disappeared, whereas the followers and allies of Joan were still very much alive.
“There are many good reasons, for one, to satisfy and comfort her mother, also, to give her good name back, also to honor Joan as a good example and role model, and finally, to honor justice and truth which the church claims to be in favor of.”
And none of that has anything to do with the Templars. 1) There are no Templars left. 2) Everyone already knew that the charges were probably false for centuries now, 3) the Templars, at least from their early years, are still held up as models of knights, and 4) the Church already is showing it honors the truth by publishing the book.