Knights Templar ’Heirs’ Sue Pope For Billions

[Prairyearth]

All Things Considered, August 17, 2008 · A group of people claiming to be the heirs of the legendary Knights Templar are suing Pope Benedict XVI, seeking more than $150 billion for assets seized by the Catholic Church seven centuries ago.

They also want to restore the order's good name. Founded in 1119, the Knights Templar was a secretive order of Christian warriors who protected pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem during the Crusades. They fell out of favor years later, and members were accused of denying Christ, worshipping the devil and practicing sodomy. Many Templars were tortured and burned at the stake.

In 1307, Pope Clement V accused the order of heresy and officially dissolved it.

Fiona Govan, who wrote about the lawsuit for London's Daily Telegraph, tells host Andrea Seabrook the order is believed to have gone underground and continued to practice, but that there is no firm, historical evidence to support it.

Last fall, the Vatican published secret documents about the trial of the Templars in a book called Processus Contra Templarios, Latin for "Trial Against the Templars." The volume included a parchment apparently showing that, contrary to historic belief, Clement had absolved the order of heresy.

Now, a group called the Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ has filed suit in a Spanish court, asking for an apology from the pope and recognition that land and property worth about $150 billion today was seized from the Templars.

The Vatican will never reimburse the group, Govan says, because its members cannot prove that they are descendants of the Knights Templar.

She calls the claim "ludicrous" and says Spanish papers have suggested the issue is something for psychiatrists to decide rather than historians.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=93613600

[Prairyearth]

Knights Templar heirs in legal battle with the Pope

The heirs of the Knights Templar have launched a legal battle in Spain to force the Pope to restore the reputation of the disgraced order which was accused of heresy and dissolved seven centuries ago.

By Fiona Govan, Madrid Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:25PM BST 13 Aug 2008

The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion).

They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church.

But their motive is not to reclaim damages only to restore the "good name" of the Knights Templar.

"We are not trying to cause the economic collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court the magnitude of the plot against our Order," said a statement issued by the self-proclaimed modern day knights.

The Templars was a powerful secretive group of warrior monks founded by French knight Hugues de Payens after the First Crusade of 1099 to protect pilgrims en route to Jerusalem.

They amassed enormous wealth and helped to finance wars waged by European monarchs, but spectacularly fell from grace after the Muslims reconquered the Holy Land in 1244 and rumours surfaced of their heretic practices.

The Knights were accused of denying Jesus, worshipping icons of the devil in secret initiation ceremonies, and practising sodomy.

Many Templars confessed to their crimes under torture and some, including the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were burned at the stake.

The legal move by the Spanish group comes follows the unprecedented step by the Vatican towards the rehabilitation of the group when last October it released copies of parchments recording the trials of the Knights between 1307 and 1312.

The papers lay hidden for more than three centuries having been "misfiled" within papal archives until they were discovered by an academic in 2001.

The Chinon parchment revealed that, contrary to historic belief, Clement V had declared the Templars were not heretics but disbanded the order anyway to maintain peace with their accuser, King Philip IV of France.

Over the centuries, various groups have claimed to be descended from the Templars and legend abounds over hidden treasures, secret rituals, and their rumoured guardianship of the Holy Grail.

Most recently the knights have fascinated the modern generation after being featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...h-the-Pope.html

[GhostChild]

My Dear Templar Heir Relations:

Genocide Is A Bitch Isn't It?

Now You Have Much To Explain To Me: As "The Head In The Templar Crown" Here On Turtle Island: You Know The Land The ESQUIRES Of Your VINTAGE: Renamed [AMERICA]?

I Too Am Looking For Answers From You: And The Masons And The Free Masons: Now Whom Do I Sue For The Genocide Of My Family And Our Sovereign Relations Here On Turtle Island?

As Blood Garrentor Trustee' To The Contracts Between The CORPORATE MONARCH'S And The Original Traditional Leadership Of Turtle Island: Is What I Am Standing For: What Truly Are The Lot Of You Standing For? The Slaughter Of Friday The Thirteenth Is Small Potatoes: Compared To What Has Taken Place Here Upon The "Allodial Land Of Turtle Island."

I Am Willing To Talk In A Good Way For The Benefit Of All Those Concerned: Can You?

1-204-282-0719.......The GhostChild.