Jerusalem pilgrim cross

Jerusalem pilgrim cross Signum Sacri Itineris Hierosolymitani
Art	Badge of honor
Awarded for	Pilgrimage to the Holy Land Services to the Catholic Church there
status	is awarded
Data
Foundation year	1901
Benefactor	Leo XIII.
First awarded	retroactive to 1896
Precedence
Next higher award	Benemerenti (Pontifical Merit Medal)

The Jerusalem Pilgrim Cross was created in 1901 by Pope Leo XIII. Founded as a papal order of merit to encourage believers to travel to Jerusalem and to expressly congratulate pilgrims who have visited the Holy Land on their pilgrimage .

history

Foundation of the pilgrim cross

Pope Leo XIII. the award by decree of the papal mission congregation "de Propaganda Fide " of May 2, 1901 as a sign of his personal recognition of the pilgrims in Jerusalem and their personal memory of their journey to the holy places in the Holy Land . In a letter dated June 28, 1901, the Papal Missionary Congregation also announced that all pilgrims who had visited the Holy Land since 1896 could request the pilgrim cross retrospectively.

The Pope transferred the right to award the Jerusalem pilgrim cross to the Guardian or Custodian of the “ Custody of the Holy Land ”, the Franciscan religious order in the Holy Land.

Inner church meaning

The transfer of the granting rights of the Jerusalem pilgrim cross to the Franciscans also had a special meaning within the church:

• As early as 1847 the Holy See took away the right of the "Custody of the Holy Land" to make the knight of the Holy Sepulcher and transferred this to the Patriarch of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which was newly founded in 1847 .
• In addition, Pope Leo XIII in particular. In his long-standing pontificate he encouraged other Catholic orders (including Dominicans , Benedictines and Assumptionists ) to get involved and settle in the Holy Land. In a certain way, this deprived the Franciscans of their previous unique selling point.
• The transfer of the granting rights of the Jerusalem pilgrim cross to the Franciscans can be seen as a special emphasis and appreciation of this order and the "Custody of the Holy Land" compared to the new foundations in the Holy Land and as recognition for their services to the fate of the Holy Land since 1342 at the latest are viewed and rated.

Award

The prerequisite for the award is a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, during which one can visit the headquarters of the "Custody of the Holy Land" and ask for the award of the pilgrim cross. Previously, the applicant had to bring a letter of recommendation from his home pastor confirming his honorable lifestyle. The guardian or custodian or a Franciscan priest entrusted with this task carries out the awarding of the pilgrimage cross. He distinguishes pilgrims in the name of the Holy Father (" cum [...] apostolica auctoritate facultas ").

The pilgrimage cross is awarded in the classes gold , silver and bronze , with bronze usually being awarded on the first pilgrimage, silver on the second and gold on the third. Bearers of the pilgrim cross also receive a certificate. For the award of the pilgrim cross, a prescribed tax has to be paid to the custody, which is passed on by the Franciscans as a donation to the papal congregation for the evangelization of the peoples at the end of the year . The pilgrim's cross in gold is occasionally awarded tax-free by the "Custody of the Holy Land" in recognition of special services to the Holy Land without the person concerned having to visit Jerusalem.

At the end of each year, the “Custody of the Holy Land” informs the Papal Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples of the amount of the donations received from the bearers of the pilgrim cross . This process and its foundation by the Pope raise the Jerusalem pilgrim cross in the real sense to a papal decoration.

As papal decorations , the Jerusalem pilgrim Cross is not comparable to, for example, the scallop , the only one distinguishing feature of the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela is.

Description of the medal

The Jerusalem pilgrim cross is made of bronze, silver or gold-plated metal, depending on the level, and has the shape of the so-called Jerusalem cross .

On the front, the Jerusalem pilgrim cross shows a medallion with the image of its donor Leo XIII in the middle. with the engraved inscription: "Leo XIII PM creavit, Anno MCM" (German: donated by Pope Leo XIII. in 1900). On the beam is written: "Christi Amor Crucifixi traxit nos" (Eng .: The love of Christ the crucified has drawn us to itself). At the end of each of the larger arms of the cross, the mysteries are depicted:

• Annunciation
• Birth of the lord
• Baptism of Jesus
• Last Supper of Jesus

On the back of the Jerusalem pilgrim cross, Christ, the risen one , is depicted on a medallion in the middle . On the outer edge is written: "Signum Sacri Itineris Hierosol [ymitani]" (German: sign of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land). The cross bars show:

• Jesus prays in Getsemane
• Flagellation of Jesus
• Crowning of thorns
• Christ crucified

Carrying method

The Jerusalem pilgrim cross is worn on the left side of the chest. The ribbon made of silk is red with four sky-blue stripes in the middle; the edges form white, dark yellow lined borders.

In Germany, Bundeswehr soldiers have been allowed to wear the Jerusalem pilgrim cross as a ribbon buckle on their uniform since 1955 .

gallery

• 

  Ribbon buckle with Jerusalem pilgrim cross (2nd from right)

• 

  Jerusalem pilgrim cross in bronze (front)

• 

  Jerusalem pilgrim cross in silver (obverse)

• 

  Prelate S. Kirchberger with Jerusalem pilgrim cross (2nd from right)

• 

  B. v. Hutten-Czapski in the uniform of the Order of Malta with a Jerusalem pilgrim cross

• 

  Michał Sternuß-Staniewski with the Jerusalem pilgrim cross (2nd from right)

See also

• List of papal orders and decorations
• Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

literature

• Friedrich Marquis Guigue de Champvans de Farémont: History and legislation of the orders of knights, decorations and medals of the Holy See according to official sources. Edited by the Institut Historique et Hèraldique de France, Paris 1932, pp. 88f.
• Siegfried Koß: The Jerusalem pilgrim cross of Pope Leo XIII. In: In the land of the Lord. Franciscan magazine for the Holy Land. Vol. 61, Issue 2, 2007, pp. 71f.

Web links

Commons : Jerusalem Pilgrim Cross  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information on the Jerusalem Pilgrim Cross on the pages of the "Custody of the Holy Land"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} The decoration created by Leon XIII for the Holy Land Pilgrims . In: www.custodia.org . Gerusalemme - San Salvatore Convento Francescano St. Savior's Monastery. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
2. ↑ Michael Autengruber: Orders and decorations from all over the world. Holy See and Vatican. The Dr. Norbert Herkner . Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Kassel, 2015, p. 249 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 11, 2016]).
3. ↑ Also on the strap: German sports badge in gold , DLRG lifeguard badge in gold , Jerusalem pilgrim cross, four-day cross (Nijmegen march) .
4. ↑ Kirchberger also wears the Commander's Cross of the Knightly Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem around his neck and the Order of Saint Michael , Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice , Jerusalem Pilgrim Cross and the Merit Medal of 1901 on his chest (from left to right) .
5. ↑ In addition, Sternuss-Staniewski wears the Grand Officer 's Cross of the Knightly Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem with the corresponding breast star and the Commander's Cross of the Order of Gregory with the corresponding breast star. The medal clasp is worn (from left to right): Knight's Cross of the New Year's Eve , Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice , Jerusalem Pilgrim Cross and Knight's Cross of the Order of Danilos I for independence .