Posted on 08/04/2008 5:23:47 PM PDT by Clint Williams
The Knights Templar are demanding that the Vatican give them back their good name and, possibly, billions in assets into the bargain, 700 years after the order was brutally suppressed by a joint venture between the Pope and the King of France.
If the Holy See doesn’t comply, the warrior knights, renowned for liberating the Holy Land, will deploy that most fearsome of weapons: a laborious court case through the creaking Spanish legal system.
The Daily Telegraph reports that The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ has launched a court case in Spain, demanding Pope Benedict “recognise†the seizure of assets worth €100bn. The Spanish-based group of Templars apparently says in a statement: "We are not trying to cause the economic collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court the magnitude of the plot against our Order." This might come as a surprise to those who believe that the order of warrior monks – also credited with possessing the Holy Grail and laying the foundation of the European banking system - was smashed in 1307 by Pope Clement V and Philip IV of France.
At the time, the order was accused of a multitude of crimes, including two medieval biggies - sodomy and heresy.
However, recently discovered Vatican papers showed that the order had never been declared heretics, burnings at the stake for the leadership not withstanding.
Rather, it appeared that the order’s suppression was more a piece of realpolitik on the pope’s part to pacify Philip, who was somewhat irked by the prospect of the powerful order increasing its continental activities after Jerusalem fell to the Turks.
Despite the order’s brutal apparent suppression, its legacy has been claimed by numerous successor organisations, and besmirched by popular authors ad nauseum.
One of the successors, Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, is apparently recognised by Unesco.
We contacted the UK branch, otherwise known as the The Grand Priory of Knights Templar in England and Wales, to see if they could throw any light on the matter but they have yet to get back to us.
The Grand Priory’s website says the modern organisation is about humanitarian and charity work. There is no mention of the Holy Grail, though it does support the maintenance of the Holy Places.
And if you’re looking for esoteric rites or secret higher knowledge, you’re likely to be disappointed. The website says: “Please don’t expect to be enlightened with some supposed ‘secret’ knowledge, because nothing exists.â€
Of course, any conspiracy theorist will tell you that’s exactly what you’d expect them to say. ®
Hell, good luck just proving they are the same organization.
Where do I sign up?
On the other hand they were just stealing from others who had stolen so there is no justice to be had by giving them anything.
However, if this proceeds through the Courts, then I want the Maltese Falcon exempted from the proceedings and declared a world treasure which cannot be possessed by anyone.
The treasure was on Oak Island. It was moved to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland and now resides in the basement of the new Louvre Annex in Paris.
Didn't you see "The DaVinci Code"?
“moved to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland”
A head fake by the Illumanati.
maybe we just want people to think that ...
...the Pope should sue England for Henry the 8th’s seizing of church property...
What do their demands matter - they were a religious organisation answerable directly to the Pope. If they claim to be the organisation, he can simply smile and say, by the way, I order you to relinquish all claims to those assets your order used to hold as part of the Catholic Church...
Riiiiiight.... Good thing Spain has NEVER been in lockstep with the Catholic Church. Granted, things are changing, but methinks not that much.
Yeah, maybe next time they will read the fine print about infallibility. Also, I can see the next headline:
Vatican to Knights Templar: You'll get your money when you can show you have been executing your duty of "protecting pilgrims en route to the Holy Land for the last few hundred years. Mind you, I am not defending the Church on this one, but I am pointing out that even a revered name can file a frivolous lawsuit
You left out the Vandals and Suevi, the Byzantines (under Justinian), and the Franks (under Charlemagne).
“....Being a Cuban, I am going to sue: (1) The Lebanese Government, for the invasion of my ancestral home by the Pheonecians and thier spawn, the Carhaginians; (2) Greece for the invasion of my ancestral home by the Ancient Greeks; (3) Italy and the City of Rome for the conquest of Spain by Rome; (4) Germany, lets not forget those damn Visigoths!; (5) [Can’t sue Islam, its a Religion of Peace, we were the Crusading occupiers (repeat 20,000 times] (6) France, for the War of Spanish Succession and that horrible Napoleonic occupation; (7) England, how dare they invade Napoleonic Spain! and (8) The United States, for the Spanish American War....”
I’d like to join you suit as a class action against Rome for building that damn wall across England and depriving my Scottish ancestors of their livelihood of raiding and pillaging.
MEDIEVIL PING
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