Royal Investiture and Mass at Westminster Cathedral
London, October 2011. A Royal Investiture and Mass held at Westminster Cathedral with The Grand Master of the Constantinian Order of St George, HRH Prince Carlo of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro, presiding over a Royal Investiture of news knights, dames and medalists of the British and Irish Delegation of the Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Royal Order of Francis I.
Brescia, 19 September 2011. Brescia Knights and Dames were invested into the Order of Saint George in the old Cathedral the delivery of the Labarum.
Guardian of the Treasure of the Holy Cross, Brescia deserved an official presence of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, born in 312 after the battle of the Milvian Bridge, faught and won with the insignia of Christianity. As of Monday 19th, during a solemn celebration in the Duomo Vecchio,the new provincial representation of the Order will be set up with the delivery of the Labarum and the investiture of a group of Knights and Dames who have pledged to give continuity to a tradition dating back to the Christian roots of Europe, through charitable works and cultural initiatives, for the propagation of the faith and the glorification of the Cross.
It was Emperor Constantine who invested the first 50 Knights, giving rise to the oldest of orders of chivalry and sanctioned with the edict of 313 A.C. on the freedom of worship for Christians. The leadership of the order transmitted by hereditary dynastic law, is now entrusted to Prince Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: the Grand Master will be joined in the ceremony of the handing of the Labarum by the designated representative Don Armando Morandi, by Ambassador Antonio Benedetto Spada, Grand Treasurer, and by Lombardy Delegate Augusto Ruffo di Calabria.
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, Grand Prior of the Order, will chair at 5 pm in the Duomo Vecchio the Eucharistic co-celebration with the participation of the Bishop, Monsignor Luciano Monari and the Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop Monsignor Vigilio Mario Olmi. The ceremony, open to all citizens, will be preceded by the extraordinary exhibition of the Treasure of the Holy Crosses.
Geneva, 1 August 2011. Constantinian Order was granted Consultative Status to United Nations, in the General session of July 2011 in Geneva, adopted the recommendation of the Committee for non-governmental organizations based in New York to accept the special request made by the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George to be granted the consultative status starting August 1, 2011. The initiative of the Constantinian Knights, strongly supported by the Grand Master, Prince Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro, Head of the Royal House by the same name, has been greatly appreciated by the United Nations for the numerous activities undertaken by the Order in favour of needy people, especially those coming from areas outside Europe, not only in Italy but also in various African and Asian Countries as a result of natural disasters and wars. Particular attention was given to donations made by Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Castro, the inspiring force behind the humanitarian action of the Order, to hospitals and care institutions such as the hospital “Bambin Gesù” in Rome, the Civil Hospital in Nice, “Princess Grace Hospital” in the Principality of Monaco, and projects now being finalized for the construction of a molecular biology laboratory in the American Hospital of Paris and a pioneering initiative at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome. Particularly appreciated was the construction of the Hospital of the Catholic Diocese of Hoima in Uganda, thanks to the important contributions of the Costantinian Delegations of Sicily and Switzerland. Apart from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which has a special international status, the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is the only Italian Order of Chivalry to be awarded this special recognition by the United Nations which authorizes it to entertain relations followed also by the Secretary General of the United Nations, the General Assembly and all other U.N. Agencies and Institutions in the world, in addition of course, to relations with 193 Member States of this primary International Organization. As known, there are around one hundred Orders of Chivalry currently present in Italy. Only six of them are considered legitimate by the Italian State for the purposes of authorizing the exhibiting of their insignia decorations on the territory of the Republic. The first, back in 1963, was indeed the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, whose decorations are permitted for the Head of the Royal House of Naples. The Constantinian Knights whom He nominates are considered, now also by the UN system which approved the statutes and the history of the Order, the inheritors of the ancient fifty Knights appointed by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who, since the early decades of 300 A.C., were the keepers the pennon in the shape of a cross with the monogram of Christ (“Labarum”), which the King always used to carry on his travels, by raising it on battlefields to protect his soldiers and as admonishment to his opponents. The special status granted by the U.N. authorizes the Constantinian Order to appoint its official representatives to the U.N. institutions to the Glass Palaces in New York, Geneva and Vienna, and to grant them the power of access to the centers of project developments with written and oral interventions, acquisition and distribution of documents, the use of any conference or meeting rooms, etc. The Constantinian Order will have to draw up its own report on the activities undertaken, which must be presented no later than January 1, 2015, that is at the end of the renewable four year term, 2011-2014. The Prince and Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order has appointed Knight John Leopold Fiorilla di Santa Croce, a local resident, Head of the Constantinian Delegation in New York and of the Institutions and Special Agencies thereby represented , thus approving the choice of the Delegation Office at 555 Park Avenue. H.E. Ambassador Giuseppe Balboni Acqua, Secretary General of the Order, was appointed Deputy Head of the Delegation, who in turn is in charge of relations with the institutions of the UN in Geneva, where he served for more than three years as Ambassador of Italy and Head of the Italian Delegation to the Conference of Disarmament. Concurrently Barrister Franco Ciufo, Knight of Grand Cross, Deputy Delegate for the Lazio region, was also appointed member of the Constantinian Delegation to the UN. Three subsequent members of the Constantinian Representation will be appointed at a later date.
Palermo, 12 May 2011. In the magnificent scenery of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo’s Norman Palace, the annual ceremony of investiture of new Knights and Dames of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George took place on Saturday May 14, chaired by His Most Revered Eminence Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, Grand Prior of the Order and Chairman Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace of the Holy See. His Eminence Martino was accompanied by the Secretary General of the Constantinian Order, Ambassador Giuseppe Balboni Acqua. Presented by the Deputy Head of Delegation of Sicily, the Noble Dr. Antonio di Janni, neo Knights have implemented the new religious rite of investiture, which recalls the ancient one by Emperor Constantine the Great to defend the Sacred Banner which reproduces the cross and the monogram of Constantinian Cross, and the monogram of the first two greek letters in the word Christ. On this occasion the celebrant before the kneeling candidate and holding the hand up to him, pronounces the phrase “in accordance with the mandate received by His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Grand Master of the Order, I set you and I proclaim you Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. ” The Cardinal Grand Prior and then touches his hand with the right shoulder of the Knight completing the formula with the blessing “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” The new investiture ceremony reminiscent of the old medieval knights kneeling: During that ceremony were mentioned St. Michael and St. George and was eventually pronounced the formula of the invitation to stand with the words “there rise a knight.” The hand placed on the shoulder of the inducted – signifies the decision to help the new knight along the way of his heartfelt and convinced profession of faith and to accompany him by facilitating his entry into the community of the Knights Brothers. HIs most Revered Eminence Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino has therefore urged to arrange “not just ceremonies and beautiful uniforms with capes but concrete initiatives of solidarity to ignite hope and help the most vulnerable and often forgotten people in the world. ” The religious ceremony was then followed by a gala dinner in honor of His Eminence the Cardinal in the splendid rooms of Villa Niscemi.
The next day, Sunday, May 15, His Most Revered Eminence Cardinal Martino accompanied by Ambassador Balboni Acqua, by the Deputy Director di Janni and by the Knight Como, visited the Archbishop of Palermo, His Most Revered Eminence Cardinal Paolo Romeo, who entertained the guests for over an hour in a long and cordial conversation. So His Eminence Martino went to the residential complex of the Regional Command of the Carabinieri of Sicily where he presided over the Eucharistic celebration in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (twelfth century), giving a high Constantine honor to General Commander Riccardo Amato. In the various meeting opportunities it was recalled with emotion the unforgettable visit of Pope Benedict XVI in Palermo on 3 October 2010 and the words addressed to the Sicilians and the Palermitani on that occasion: “Your beautiful island was among the first regions’ in Italy to accept the faith of the Apostles to receive the proclamation of the Word of God, to adhere to the faith so generously that even in the midst of difficulties and persecutions the flower of Holiness has always sprouted. Sicily was and is a land of saints as members of every condition of life who lived the Gospel with simplicity and integrity. To you, the faithful laymen, I repeat: do not be afraid to live and bear witness to the faith in the various sectors of society, in many situations of human existence, especially in the difficult ones! “
Lampedussa, 10 May 2011. Constantinian Order sent Humanitarian Aid to Lampedusa in order to contribute to the aid to immigrants from Africa who these days are landing in thousands on the shores of the island of Lampedusa The Delegation of the Constantinian Sicily and Umbria-Marche have delivered a “truck” full of food supplies that were sent directly to the parish priest of the Church of Lampedusa, Don Stefano Nastasi who is responsible for its distribution. The Vice Delegate for Sicily was present and accompanied by Dr Antonio di Janni Gasperino Como Knight and Robert Knight Marche Frittelli who have made use of the contribution of young volunteers of the Humanitarian Aid Association of the Marche Region.
