On Saturday 22 June at 15.00, the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem celebrates a magnificent Investiture Mass in St. Olav Cathedral, Oslo. As many as 12 candidates will be beaten to ladies and knights of the ancient and renowned Catholic order.
Text and photo: Petter T. Stocke-Nicolaisen
The joint Nordic and Baltic Investiture of Dames and Knights of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem will take place in St. Olav’s Cathedral, Oslo this weekend 21st – 22nd June 2024.
The Vigil at Arms Ceremony will commence on Friday evening 21st June at 20.00 hrs and the Investiture Mass will be held on Saturday afternoon 22nd at 15.00 hrs.
The ceremonies will be presided over by His Eminence, Fernando Cardinal Filoni, GCHS, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Assisting and concelebrating will be His Excellency Most Reverend Bernt I. Eidsvig, Can.Reg. KC*HS, Bishop of Oslo and Grand Prior of the Norwegian Magistral Delegation of the Equestrian Order and His Excellency Most Reverend Julio Murat Apostolic Nuncio to Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway together with other clergy.
The weekend’s Investiture on Saturday will see the admission of 12 new members of the Order: six from Norway, four from Sweden and two from Finland. The foreign candidates include Finland’s new Bishop H.E. Most Rev Raimo Ramón Goyarrola Belda (Opus Dei).
During this solemn event all 12 candidates take their vows in advance of the celebration Holy Mass before Cardinal Filoni, clergy, members of the Order, the faithful – and God.
At the Vigil at Arms Ceremony the previous evening Friday, a number of promotions will be awarded to members, in recognition of their contribution to the Order’s mission to support the Christian ‘living stones’ in the Holy Land.
Representatives from the Magistral Delegations of Norway, Latvia and Lithuania and the Lieutenancies of Finland, Sweden and Denmark, England and Wales, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Croatia, Malta, Spain, Switzerland and USA) will be in attendance; including their Excellencies:
- Dr. Huan Ngoc Nguyen, KCHS;
- Janis Smelters, KCHS;
- Dr. Donata Maria Krethlow-Benziger, DGCHS;
- Verna Johanna Paloheimo, DCHS;
- Jørgen Boesen, KCHS;
- Amb. Roberto Buontempo, KGCHS;
- Brigadier Joseph d’Inverno, KCHS;
- Juan Carlos de Balle y Comas, KGCHS
- Angelo Domencio dell’Oro, KGCHS;
- Helene Lund, DGCHS, Grand Magisterium and
- Enric Mas, GCHS, Vice Governor of the Order.
Name of Investees:
- Knights: Dr. Mogens Albæk (NO); Mr. Petter Steen (NO); Mr. Eugen Zovko (SE-DK) and Mr. Hubert Danielsson (SE-DK).
- Dames: Mrs. Anne-Rigmor Sock Evje (NO); Mrs. Ragnhild Helena Aadland Høen (NO); Mrs. Ilse Rodrigez Castellanos (NO); Mrs. Estrid Ryom (SE-DK) and Mrs. Michella Cegielski (SE-DK).
- Ecclesiastical Knights: H.E. Most Rev. Bishop Raimo Ramón Goyarrola Belda (FI); Rev. Dr. Ole Martin Stamnestrø (NO) and Rev Jean Claude Kabetsa (FI)
Watch the investiture fair live from 15:00 on Saturday 22 June:
The following members of the Order will receive promotions:
- · Knight Commanders: Mr. Terje Bjørnaas, KCHS (NO); Mr. Magnus Røger, KCHS (NO) in absentia; Mr. Aage Vestergaard, KCHS (SE-DK); Mr. Hugo Cederschiöld, KCHS (SE-DK); Mr. Manuel Airava, KCHS (FI); Magistral Delegate Janis Smelters, KCHS (LV) and Prof. Mindaugras Stankunas, KCHS (LT).
- · Dame Commanders: Mrs. Isabel Bjørnaas, DCHS (NO); Mrs. Marianne Larsen, DCHS (SE-DK) and Mrs. Malin Almkvist Klaesson, DCHS (SE-DK).
- · Knight Commander with Star: Mr. Tord Fonberg, KC*HS (SE-DK).
- · Knight Grand Cross: Mr. Sven Aulin, KGCHS (SE-DK)
- · Silver Medal of Merit: Mgr Francis Xavier Huynh Tan Hai, Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Oslo.
- · The Gold Palm of Jerusalem: H.E. Most Rev Bishop Bernt Ivar Eidsvig, Bishop of Oslo and Norwegian Grand Prior.