Unfortunately, the Vatican Library is now shut down for 3 years, so I was not able to verify the article below. How unfortunate for those Templar's, who lost their lives 700 years ago. Prairy

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Vatican paper set to clear Knights Templar
By Malcolm Moore in Rome

The mysteries of the Order of the Knights Templar could soon be laid bare after the Vatican announced the release of a crucial document which has not been seen for almost 700 years.

A new book, Processus contra Templarios, will be published by the Vatican's Secret Archive on Oct 25, and promises to restore the reputation of the Templars, whose leaders were burned as heretics when the order was dissolved in 1314.

The Knights Templar were a powerful and secretive group of warrior monks during the Middle Ages. Their secrecy has given birth to endless legends, including one that they guard the Holy Grail.

Recently, they have been featured in films including The Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The Order was founded by Hugues de Payns, a French knight, after the First Crusade of 1099 to protect pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. Its headquarters was the captured Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, which lent the Templars their name.

But when Jerusalem fell to Muslim rule in 1244, rumours surfaced that the knights were heretics who worshipped idols in a secret initiation ceremony.

In 1307, King Philip IV "the Fair" of France, in desperate need of funds, ordered the arrest and torture of all Templars. After confessing various sins their leader, Jacques de Molay, was burnt at the stake.

Pope Clement V then dissolved the order and issued arrest warrants for all remaining members. Ever since, the Templars have been thought of as heretics.

The new book is based on a scrap of parchment discovered in the Vatican's secret archives in 2001 by Professor Barbara Frale. The long-lost document is a record of the trial of the Templars before Pope Clement, and ends with a papal absolution from all heresies.

Prof Frale said: "I could not believe it when I found it. The paper was put in the wrong archive in the 17th century."

The document, known as the Chinon parchment, reveals that the Templars had an initiation ceremony which involved "spitting on the cross", "denying Jesus" and kissing the lower back, navel and mouth of the man proposing them.

The Templars explained to Pope Clement that the initiation mimicked the humiliation that knights could suffer if they fell into the hands of the Saracens, while the kissing ceremony was a sign of their total obedience.

The Pope concluded that the entrance ritual was not truly blasphemous, as alleged by King Philip when he had the knights arrested. However, he was forced to dissolve the Order to keep peace with France and prevent a schism in the church.

"This is proof that the Templars were not heretics," said Prof Frale. "The Pope was obliged to ask pardon from the knights.

"For 700 years we have believed that the Templars died as cursed men, and this absolves them."

telegraph co uk news

hi,

well, i bought the New York Times yesterday...and well, the only article i did read was this...

...

From The New York Times International Edition Saturday October 13.
pg, A7

Vatican City: KNights Templar Secrets Revealed
The Vatican has published secret documents about the trial of the Knights Templar, including a parchment long ignored because of a vague catalog entry in 1628, showing that Pope Clement V initially absolved the medieval order of heresy. The 300 page volume recently came out in a limited edition - 799 copies, each priced at 5,900 euros, or 8,370$ - said the publishing house Scrinium, which prints documents of Vatican archives. The order of the knights, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, are also a central part of the best seller "The Da Vinci Code." The Vatican book reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened after by King Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality. The publishing house said the large format book included reproductions of the "Parchment of Chinon," a 1308 decision by Clement, above, he later reversed his decision and suppressed the order in 1312. Jacque De Molay, the last Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the steak in 1314.

...

there are more reports out now by various news sources.
such as...

http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=1149

Quote:
Pope was investigating Knights Templar before his election



*** The new Pope, Benedict XVI, was actively investigating secret societies including the Knights Templar and the Illuminati, it was revealed yesterday. Details were exposed by a local newspaper in Hertfordshire, England. Cardinal Ratzinger was head of the Inquisition, the arm of the Church set up to investigate, persecute or eliminate heretics. But the curious thing is, we now know that he started his investigation shortly before he was elected as the new Pope. Did he know something? He certainly made no secret of his ambition to become Pope. ***

Pope’s probe into Hertford’s Templars

THE NEW POPE has reportedly made inquiries into a secret society in Hertford, the Knights Templar.

He is thought to have contacted a top Hertfordshire historian and a records officer at County Hall in Hertford.

The inquiries follow the Templars’ demand last December for a papal apology by 2007 for their persecution by the Vatican almost 700 years ago.

The demand – which the Vatican was said to be ‘seriously considering’ – made international headlines after it was exclusively revealed by the Mercury. The news also appeared in national newspapers, including The Times, The Independent, and The Guardian.

Now we have received new information that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger made the calls prior to his election as Pope Benedict XVI earlier this month.

A source told the Mercury that the German cardinal contacted local history expert Dr Alan Thompson at the University of Hertfordshire. The anonymous source also pointed out that the Pope’s homeland, Bavaria, where he became a memeber of Hitler Youth, is also the homeland of a mysterious secret society, the Illuminati.

After we asked him to confirm the claim, Dr Thompson said: “I was contacted some time ago by a previous cardinal ... but I don't want to talk any more about it.”

Tim Acheson, a modern-day Templar, commented: “The professor may not want to give anything away, but there is an important clue in his reply. The ‘previous cardinal’ can only refer to one man – Ratzinger.”

In Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, Angels and Demons, the Illuminati takes revenge on the Vatican. Mr Acheson speculated, “Ratzinger is on record suggesting that Freemasonry was set up to persecute Christianity. Perhaps it is the revenge of the Templars that the Church fears, since the origin of Freemasonry is rooted in the persecution of the Templars by the Church.”

Before he became Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger led the Vatican committee once known as the ‘Inquisition’. Among its roles is to consider apologies to groups persecuted by the church.

Such groups include the Knights Templar, a secretive Order of warrior monks who were persecuted by King Phillip IV of France and Pope Clement V from October 13, 1307.

The Mercury’s source also claimed that the cardinal contacted Herts County Council's environmental records officer, Alison Tinneswood.

Ms Tinneswood would not comment this week and, seeking refuge in the “Data Protection Act”, a Herts County. Council spokesman refused to confirm or deny that a member of staff had been contacted by the Vatican.

A press officer for the Holy See pledged to look into the matter.

Mr Acheson observes an ironic historical connection between the Templars and the name of the new Pope.

He added, cryptically: “The pontiff chose Benedict as his papal title, a name with special significance for the Knights Templar. The Rule of the Templars, which is like a code of conduct for the Order, was originally known as the Rule of Benedict.”


SOURCE

Hertfordshire Mercury, “Pope’s probe into Hertford’s Templars”, page 25, 29 April 2005.
http://www.herts-essex-news.co.uk/news/mer...dshire_mercury/
Archived: http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=1149

...

and from the Moscow Times...

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/10/15/253.html

Quote:
Vatican Documents Clear Knights Templar
By Philip Pullella
Reuters
VATICAN CITY -- The Knights Templar, a medieval Christian military order accused of heresy and sexual misconduct, will be partly rehabilitated when the Vatican publishes trial documents it has guarded for 700 years.

A reproduction of the minutes of trials against the Templars, "Processus Contra Templarios -- Papal Inquiry into the Trial of the Templars" is a massive work, costing 5,900 euros ($8,333).

"This is a milestone because it is the first time that these documents are being released by the Vatican, which gives a stamp of authority to the entire project," said Professor Barbara Frale, a medievalist at the Vatican's Secret Archives.

"Nothing before this offered scholars original documents of the trials of the Templars," she said in a telephone interview ahead of the official presentation of the work on Oct. 25.

The epic comes in a soft leather case that includes a large-format book with scholarly commentary, reproductions of original parchments in Latin and replicas of the wax seals used by 14th-century inquisitors.

One parchment measuring about half a meter wide by 2 meters long is so detailed that it includes reproductions of imperfections seen on the originals.

Pope Benedict will be given the first set of the work, published by the Vatican Secret Archives in collaboration with Italy's Scrinium cultural foundation, which acted as curator and will have exclusive world distribution rights.


The Templars, whose full name was "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon," were founded in 1119 by knights who were sworn to protect Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099.

The Knights have also been portrayed as guardians of the legendary Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper before his crucifixion.

The Vatican expects most copies of the work to be bought up by specialized libraries at top universities and by leading medieval scholars.

The Templars went into decline after Muslims reconquered the Holy Land at the end of the 13th century and were accused of heresy by King Philip IV of France, their foremost persecutor. Their alleged offenses included denying Christ and secretly worshipping idols.

The most titillating part of the documents is the so-called Chinon Parchment, which contains phrases in which Pope Clement V absolves the Templars of charges of heresy, which had been the backbone of King Philip's attempts to eliminate them.

Templars were burned at the stake for heresy by King Philip's agents after they made confessions that most historians believe were given under duress.

The parchment was "misplaced" in the Vatican archives until 2001, when Frale stumbled across it.

"The parchment was catalogued incorrectly at some point in history. At first I couldn't believe my eyes. I was incredulous," she said.

Philip was heavily indebted to the Templars, who had helped him finance his wars, and getting rid of them was a convenient way of canceling his debts, some historians say.

Frale said Pope Clement was convinced that while the Templars had committed some grave sins, they were not heretics.

Their initiation ceremony is believed to have included spitting on the cross, but Frale said they justified this as a ritual of obedience in preparation for possible capture by Muslims.

...

so if the catholic church says, the templars don't exist...

what's up with this book i have here?

greentreee,
It seems that now that the Templar cat is out of the secret Vatican library bag now, the Catholic Church has no alternative than to fess up and acknowledge the Templar's existence.

Wow, what's making my head real, is the exorbitant amount that is being charged for that book!

DreamWalkerAwake has some very interesting info over at the Catalonian fire. If you ever run across a post that is in Catalan and you'd like to read it in English, let me know and I will see what I can do to translate.

Prairy

Hi Prairy,

I hear you on the cost of the book. it is a little over priced I can only guess, unless the pages are made of gold. maybe with the profits, they will stave off bankruptcy in Canada?

I'm not familliar with the templar myths myself. I suppose i've heard and read a few things. The stuff i sort of know is from this little book i have, which is just a rule book (by-law) book. Which just explains the procedures involved within the organization. Very dry reading, but it does reveal how democratic governments function, and where the system was influenced at least generally.

i sort of poked my head into the Catalonian Fire, but i realised i would have no idea what to look for.

i'm not clear on what to think of the whole story either, it seems really odd. I just thought it was a bizzarre story to read. For the availability of the information, it seems like alot more hype than anything else. Plus, i have to assume there is no "freedom of information act" involved in the rules of the catholic church either, which can only mean, that they are in the business of supressing truth and freedom.

i guess somethings appear to never change.