United Templar Rites

The Order of the United Templar Rite's lineage has been proven by Professor Nils Bertil Alexander Persson, who was granted access to the Vatican's secret archives, to go back to the College of Antioch. These findings were presented at both the United Nations and the House of the Lords where it was well received by both audiences.  Maximos V Hakim (Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church) reportedly refused the invitation to be the Patriarch for the highly esteemed and well established Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jérusalem (OSMTJ), because he was already the religious protectorate of an Order of Templary, the United Templar Rite under the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

The Count George Boyer and the Countess Leila Boyer were both present on the 9th of December 2004 in the House of Lords in London for Professor Bertil Persson's lecture on the United Templar Rite.  

United Templar Rite

+Leila and +George Boyer had both been knighted and invested into the United Templar Rite in Jerusalem by its Spiritual Protector Archbishop Lutfi Laham (Gregory III) of the Holy Land, Patriarch of the Melchite-Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church.  Archbishop Lutfi Laham succeeded Maximos V Hakim as Patriarch.  Maximos V Hakim was Supreme Spiritual Protector of another humanitarian order, the international ecumenical Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem.

He accepted the role after numerous requests had come in from one of the Roman Cardinals in Germany many years ago.  The Roman Catholic Cardinal urged him to wield his influence in the Middle East to help the Palestinian people in The Holy Land. The United Templar Rite engaged in a project in Ramallah on the West Bank under the leadership of its Spiritual Protectorate, Abouna Laham who partnered with Yassir Arafat.  In the name of United Templar Rite an entire block was constructed with modern furnishings, electricity, clean running water, internet access, a school, a well stocked and fully staffed pharmacy along with many other institutions.  In recent years, all of this has been destroyed by bombs.  

The United Templar Rite has a worldwide presence, with priories, bailiwicks and commanderies in London, Edinburgh, Galway City, Lyon, Madrid, Bremen, New York City, the District of Columbia, Singapore, Egypt, Lisbon and Rome.  The Primate of the Order of Corporate Reunion is traditionally initiated into the Order if not already a Knight Templar prior to assuming the office.  This Templar Order is unique in that it it enjoys a protectorate that is in communion with the Vatican.

Desmond Bourke, KT

Patriarch Maximos V Hakim (right), together with David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel (1960)