Pope Leo XIV received this Thursday October 23 in the Paul VI Hall the participants of the Jubilee of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, whom he exhorted to live their vocation as “custodians of Christ’s Sepulcher” not only in a historical or symbolic sense, but as witnesses of hope and living faith in the midst of a world wounded by violence and loss of meaning.
In his speech—delivered entirely in Italian—the Pope recalled the origins of the Order, born to safeguard the Holy Sepulcher, protect pilgrims, and support the Church in the Holy Land. “You still do so today —he said— with humility, dedication, and a spirit of sacrifice, supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in its educational, charitable, and pastoral works.”
The Pontiff emphasized that “safeguarding Christ’s Sepulcher does not mean only preserving a historical or artistic heritage, but sustaining a Church made of living stones, an authentic sign of paschal hope.” Additionally, he reflected on three dimensions of hope, following the spiritual line of the 2025 Jubilee.
Finally, he concluded his speech by quoting Saint Augustine, encouraging the knights and ladies to advance decisively in doing good and not to retreat in the face of difficulties. “Be custodians of Christ’s Sepulcher with confidence, with the zeal of charity, and with the joy of hope,” he exhorted.
Finally, the Holy Father led a prayer with those present and imparted his apostolic blessing, asking especially for the Christians of the Holy Land and for all those suffering the consequences of war.
Below, we leave the full message from Leo XIV:
Audience with the participants in the Jubilee of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
(October 23, 2025)
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Eminences, Excellencies,
dear brothers and sisters:
It is beautiful, in this Jubilee Year, to meet with 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 safeguard the Holy Sepulcher, care for pilgrims, and sustain the Church of Jerusalem. You still do so today, with the humility, dedication, and spirit of sacrifice that characterize chivalric orders, especially with “a constant witness of faith and solidarity toward the Christians residing in the Holy Places” (Saint 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 sense, I think of the concrete help you offer, without noise or publicity, to the communities of the Holy Land, supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in its various activities: the seminary, the schools, charitable and assistance works, humanitarian and educational projects, the university, and support for the churches, with special interventions in times of greater crisis, as happened during Covid and in the tragic days of war.
In all this, you show that safeguarding Christ’s Sepulcher does not simply mean preserving a historical-archaeological or artistic heritage, however important it may be, but sustaining a living Church, made of “living stones” (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-5), which around that sepulcher was born and still today lives as an authentic sign of paschal hope.
For this reason, in the Jubilee of Hope, I would like to contemplate with you three dimensions of that hope.
The first is confident hope (cf. Francis, Spes non confundit, 4). Stopping before the Lord’s Sepulcher means renewing faith in the God who fulfills his promises, whose power no human force can overcome.
In a world where arrogance and violence seem to impose themselves over charity, you are called to witness that life conquers death, love conquers hate, forgiveness conquers vengeance, and mercy and grace conquer sin. Your presence in the Holy Places must be, above all, a “bulwark of faith” that helps the men and women of our time to remain with their hearts before Christ’s tomb, where pain finds its answer in trust and where, for those who know how to listen, the announcement still resounds: “Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen […] as he said” (Mt 28:6).
To achieve this, nourish your hearts with an intense sacramental life, with listening and meditation on the Word of God, with personal and liturgical prayer, with spiritual formation, so well cared for within the Order.
The second dimension of hope we can see embodied in the women of the Gospel who go to the sepulcher to anoint Jesus’ body (cf. Mk 16:1-2). It is the face of service: not even the death of the Master prevents Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome from caring for him.
I have already expressed my gratitude to you for the great good you do, following the ancient tradition of assistance that characterizes you. On how many occasions, thanks to your action, a ray of light opens for people, families, and entire communities, who run the risk of being swept away by terrible dramas, at all levels, especially in the places where Jesus lived. Your charity sustains 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” (cf. Spes non confundit, 8).
But there is a third dimension of hope to which I want to refer: the one that leads us to look to the goal. The image we can evoke is that of PETER AND JOHN running toward the Sepulcher (cf. Jn 20:4-10). On Easter morning, upon hearing the women, they set out immediately, in haste, in a race that will lead them, before 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 the stadium, not lacking a goal, but oriented toward the encounter with the Lord (cf. 1 Cor 9:24-27). That 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 undertaken it, and I invite you to live your presence here not as a point of arrival, but as a stage from which to resume the journey toward the only true and definitive goal: full and eternal communion with God in Paradise.
Make this also a witness for the brothers and sisters you will meet: an invitation to live the things of this world with the freedom and joy of those who know they are on the way toward the infinite horizon of eternity.
Dearest ones, the Church today entrusts you again with the task of being custodians of Christ’s Sepulcher. Be so, in the confidence of waiting, in the zeal of charity, in the joyful impetus of hope. As Saint Augustine said to the Christians of his time: “Advance, advance in doing good […]. Do not leave the path, do not look back, do not stop” (Sermo 256, 3). I bless you from my heart and pray for all of you. Thank you.
Let us pray together. [Our Father]
Blessing