| I SPOKE at a small day-conference for members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem last weekend. Founded after the end of the first crusade in 1099, the Order was originally intended to be a military presence at Christ’s tomb.
In the 19th century, however, it was given new instructions by Pope Pius IX. No longer would its members be a quasi-military religious army in the Holy Land. Instead, they would guard Christ’s sepulchre by expressing their solidarity with indigenous Christians. Today, this means activities such as raising money to plant olive trees and supporting Bethlehem University.
I suppose I did not really think that crusaders existed any more. And if I had imagined such a thing, I certainly would not have pictured the gentlefolk of middle England who turned up at Aylesford Priory to hear me speak.
When the crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099, they butchered many of the Jewish and Muslim occupants and mutilated their bodies. In contrast, the knights of today are all a bit golf club and driving gloves. They are a terribly likeable bunch.
Although he was the pope who defined the dogmas of papal infallibility and the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pius IX was absolutely spot on about the crusaders. You defend something best by caring for it.
Pope John Paul II continued this theme, going even further by calling on knights and dames to deepen “the three characteristic virtues of the Order: zeal for self-denial in this society of affluence, generous commitment to the weak and defenceless, and a courageous struggle for justice and peace”. You defend the Church best when you live out its values.
All of this is a welcome reminder that the Church is at its most impressive when it is least concerned with defending itself, and most concerned with preaching the gospel. Only those who care for gospel values more than they care for the Church will truly and surely defend the institution they love. There is a moral here for those of us in the C of E who are obsessed with defending our little patch of the Church. Let us live out the gospel, and let whatever happens to the Church happen.
So much Christian moral logic is counter-intuitive like this. Just as you find your life by losing it, you care best for your own soul when you care more about the souls of others. A great priest I knew once told me he could not care less about his own salvation. It was a majestic thing to say — and, to me, profoundly Christian. It was the saying of someone destined for heaven.
The Revd Dr Giles Fraser is Team Rector of Putney, in south London. |
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