Pope Leo XIV says Nourish "your heart with an intense sacramental life, with listening to...the Word of God, with personal and liturgical prayer" to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE JUBILEE OF THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER
OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE OF JERUSALEM
Paul VI Hall
Thursday, October 23, 2025
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!


Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,
dearest brothers and sisters,

It is beautiful, in this Jubilee Year, to meet all of you, Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem .

You have come to Rome from various parts of the world, and this reminds us that the practice of pilgrimage is at the origin of your history. You were born, in fact, to guard the Holy Sepulchre, to care for pilgrims, and to support the Church of Jerusalem. You still do so today, with the humility, dedication, and spirit of sacrifice that characterize the Orders of Chivalry, particularly with "a constant witness of faith and solidarity toward the Christians residing in the Holy Places" (St. John Paul II, Address to the participants in the Jubilee of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem , March 2, 2000).

In this regard, I think of the remarkable help you provide, quietly and without publicity, to the communities of the Holy Land, supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in its various activities: the Seminary, schools, charitable and relief works, humanitarian and educational projects, the University, and assistance to the Churches, with special interventions in times of greatest crisis, as occurred during Covid and the tragic days of the war.

In all this you demonstrate that guarding the Sepulchre of Christ does not simply mean preserving a historical-archaeological or artistic heritage, however important, but supporting a Church made of living stones (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-5), which was born around it and still lives today, as an authentic sign of Easter hope.

For this reason, in the Jubilee of Hope , I would like to look with you, for a moment, precisely at it, underlining three of its dimensions.

The first is that of trusting expectation (cf. Francis, Bull Spes non confundit , 4). Pausing at the Sepulchre of the Lord means renewing one's faith in the God who keeps his promises, whose power no human force can defeat. In a world where arrogance and violence seem to prevail over charity, you are called to testify that life conquers death, that love conquers hate, that forgiveness conquers revenge, and that mercy and grace conquer sin. May your "protection" at the Holy Places be first and foremost a "protection of faith" that helps the men and women of our time to pause in their hearts at the tomb of Christ, where pain finds an answer in trust and where, for those who know how to listen, the proclamation continues to resound: "Do not be afraid! I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen […], as he said" (Mt 28:6). And you will be able to do this by nourishing your heart with an intense sacramental life, with listening to and meditating on the Word of God, with personal and liturgical prayer, with the spiritual formation so carefully cared for in the Order.

The second dimension of hope I would like to focus on can be seen embodied in the icon of the women making their way to the Tomb to anoint Jesus' body (see Mk 16:1-2). It is the face of service , for which not even the Master's death prevents Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome from caring for Him. I have already expressed my gratitude to you for all the good you do, following the ancient tradition of assistance that characterizes you. On how many occasions, thanks to your work, a glimmer of light reopens for individuals, families, and entire communities who risk being overwhelmed by terrible tragedies at every level, particularly in the places where Jesus lived. Your charity supports them, perceiving in their needs those "signs of the times" that Pope Francis has invited us to make our own in order to transform them into "signs of hope" (see Spes non confundit , 8).

But there is a third dimension of hope to which I would like to refer: the one that leads us to look towards the goal . The image we can recall is that of Peter and John running towards the Tomb (cf. Jn 20:4-10). On Easter morning, having heard the women, they immediately set off, in haste, in a race that will take them, near the empty tomb, to renew their faith in Christ in the light of the Resurrection. Saint Paul uses the same image when he speaks of his life as a race in a stadium, not without a goal, but aimed at an encounter with the Lord (cf. 1 Cor 9:24-27). This is what the gesture of pilgrimage expresses, as a symbol of the search for the ultimate meaning of life (cf. Spes non confundit , 5). You too have made it, and I invite you to experience your presence here not as a point of arrival, but as a stage from which to set out again to set out again towards the only true and definitive goal: that of full and eternal communion with God in Heaven. Make it also a testimony for the brothers and sisters you meet: an invitation to experience the things of this world with the freedom and joy of those who know they are journeying toward the infinite horizon of eternity.

Dearest ones, the Church today once again entrusts you with the task of being guardians of the Sepulchre of Christ. Be so, in the trust of expectation , in the zeal of charity , in the joyful impulse of hope . As St. Augustine said to the Christians of his time: "Go forward, go forward in goodness [...]. Do not stray from the path, do not turn back, do not stop!" ( Sermon 256,3). I bless you wholeheartedly, and I pray for all of you. Thank you.

Let us pray together. [Recitation of the Our Father]

Blessing