Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem - Governor's Office Austria Ritterorden vom Heiligen Grab zu Jerusalem - Statthalterei Österreich

The Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (Latin Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, order abbreviation OESSH, also known as Knights of the Holy Sepulchre) is, together with the Order of Malta, one of the only two Pontifical Orders of Knighthood.

The Order is a Roman Catholic lay order constituted in the 19th century. In 1868, this lay association was constituted as the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre by Pope Pius IX. The German Lieutenancy of this Pontifical Lay Order was founded on December 8, 1933. Since then, the Order's mission has been to promote the Catholic Church in the Holy Land and to support it through worldwide activities. Of all the spiritual knightly orders of the Catholic Church, e.g. the Order of Malta and the Teutonic Knights, both of which were founded in the Holy Land during the Crusades and were also based there, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is the youngest papal knightly order; on the other hand, it was never based in the Holy Land, having been founded in Rome. Due to historical, legal and spiritual ties, the Order is directly under the protection of the Holy See and is a juridical person under canon law as confirmed by Pope Pius XII on 14 September 1949, John XXIII on 8 December 1962 and Pope Paul VI on 19 July 1977 and - due to a confirmation by Pope John Paul II on 1 February 1996 - a juridical person of the Vatican State and thus a pontifically recognized community of Catholic lay people and priests.

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem enjoys the same direct recognition as the Order of Malta. Both are the only chivalric orders of the Catholic Church recognized by the Holy See, which also have a special relationship of sovereignty with the Holy See. Neither order owes its origin to a papal foundation, although the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is not an order within the meaning of the Corpus Iuris Canonici.

Homepage of the Knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem at www.oessh.at.