Archbishop of Sydney

National Chapter - The Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Perth
Wis 18:6-9; Heb 11:1-2, 8-19; Lk 12:32-48

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
8 August 2004

As National Chaplain of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus, which is holding its National Chapter in Perth, I would like to thank Archbishop Hickey and the Dean of the Cathedral for inviting us to celebrate Mass here this morning.

We are an ecumenical Christian order, so it was wonderful to have the Chaplains from the other Christian denominations with us with their Anglican and Uniting Church brothers and sisters, who will certainly be welcome to come forward for a blessing at Communion time if they so choose.

Today is the anniversary of the dedication of this Cathedral, the mother Church of each Diocese, the Church of the Diocesan Bishop where he has his cathedra, or teaching chair, after which the cathedral is named.  This throne or chair for the principal celebrant obviously has its antecedents in Jewish worship, but it also echoes the teaching chair of the Greek philosophers, which they would set up in the public square where their followers and opponents, or simply those interested in listening, would come to hear their theories of the meaning of life, its purpose, how we should live, the difference between good and evil, how we cope with suffering, death and evil.

Before talking about faith and good works, two of the major themes from today’s readings, I should say a word or two about the Order of St. Lazarus, especially for the local parishioners.

We have all heard of the ancient Crusaders and interest in their history has quickened, and indeed been viewed in a different light since the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001.

The Islamic terrorists are keen to provoke a clash of civilizations (we should do our best to disoblige them on this and cooperate regularly with all Islamic moderates) and their propaganda machines tell their people that Western forces today are modern Crusaders.  Some of the press in Indonesia ran this line about the Australian troops in East Timor because their commander then, General Peter Cosgrove, is a Catholic.

Our Order was founded by Gerardo Sasso, from the small town of Scala near the Amalfi coast south of Naples, sometime around 1099 when the Crusaders recaptured Jerusalem which had been under Moslem control since the seventh century.

Like the Order of Malta, the Order of St. Lazarus was comprised of soldiers who fought and performed works of charity, especially by running hospices for the victims of leprosy, for which their was then no cure.  Sasso’s leprosarium in Jerusalem was the first of these.  The Tentonic knights, on the other hand, were straight-forward soldiers without hospitals or charitable works.  Today of course our Order is exclusively devoted to good works.

The centre of the Order of Lazarus has always been in France and at different stages it was quite powerful, even with its own navy.  It fell foul of the Papacy and all its lands and possessions were confiscated during the French Revolution of 1789.  Its symbol is the green cross seen on the cloaks of members with the 2 points on each extremity of the cross symbolizing the eight beatitudes, those special teachings of Jesus which explain which people are truly blessed and the values recognized as important in heaven.

The world of the first Crusaders was very different from today.  The Middle East, Spain, North Africa and Eastern Turkey were ruled by Moslems and the centres of power, trade and learning were in the Eastern Mediterranean predominantly, Byzantium and Islam.  The split between Latin and Orthodox Christians had just taken place in 1054, Constantinople would not fall to the Moslems until 1453 and England was on the edge of the world.  Sicily was a thriving centre in every way, so that the revenues of the city of Palermo were greater than those of the King of England.

The Papacy was leading the Gregorian reform movement after the blackest period in papal history (which makes the Renaissance popes religiously respectable by comparison).  They were aided by the Normans, formerly known as Vikings who had settled in France, and who had conquered England in 1066.  The Papacy too at this time was making celibacy obligatory for the parish clergy in the West, as most parish clergy had been married in both East and West until then.

As in nearly all human history, except for some cultures in the twentieth century and much of elite Western opinion today, religion was an important factor in human hearts and the claims of faith, the similar but quite different monotheist faiths of Christianity and Islam, were taken seriously.

However because their faith was often real and deep, we should not conclude the Crusaders were always gentlemen.  The slaughter of the inhabitants of Jerusalem in 1099 was a terrible crime and in 1204, 800 years ago this year, the Fourth Crusade conquered and pillaged the Christian capital of Constantinople (because the Venetians were short of money) and installed a Latin Kingdom there until 1261.  The Orthodox today remember 1204 in the way Irish Catholics remember Cromwell.

Today we believers well understand that the one true God loves us and forgives us if we repent.  The first Crusaders, like Abraham and Sarah, were prepared to make great sacrifices for their faith but they often saw God as demanding and judgemental.  Many of their men made war like we follow the football today and the Church had to battle for centuries against this blind spot about violence, just as our society today has a blind spot e.g. on abortion.

They also knew that they should be interested in good works, in performing deeds which would relieve human suffering in this life and gain them eternal rewards in the next life.

The gospel of today reminds us too of our duties to others, not to be lost in selfishness, self-absorption, but to have a faith that turns us outwards towards those around us, like the eight points of the Lazarus cross.

Let us pray then that our Christian faith will always inspire us, for as long as we can, to be dressed for action and have our lamps lit.  May the Son of Man find each of us ready when he comes, awake and ready to open the door, with a decent list of good works to our credit to present for his adjudication.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.