🖊 redakce | archiv Petr Vojtíšek
The story of the Czech Knights Templar took a whole new dimension after 2000. It was then that two men – Petr Vojtíšek, descendant of the noble von Hahn family and the Earls of Levantis, and Svatopluk Haugwitz, heir to the princely Haugwitz and Biskupitz family – set out for Scotland, where the Templar tradition had survived for centuries. Little did they know that they would return with a mission that would transcend their ordinary lives. Their journey took almost five years, during which they had to prove that even strangers can be worthy of the white coat bearing a red cross. But what does it mean to be a Knight Templar in the age of the internet, global communication and the fast pace of life? “Today’s world suffers from a spiritual void,” says Dr Petr Moidl, Baron, Chancellor and Prior of the Czech branch of the Order, in the quiet hall of the Sacred Heart Chapel in the Sacré Coeur Monastery in Prague. Modern Knights Templar combine Christian tradition with Templar spirituality. They meet regularly for prayer and meditation with the aim of service, humility and inner transformation. “We are not nostalgic for the Middle Ages…” the Prior adds, “We want to preserve living values that can change people and society.” The Templar sword no longer defends the Holy Land, but – in the words of Knight Michal Soukup – “protects human dignity… Everyone we shake hands with is a brother or sister to us”. Charity is one of the main missions of the Order. Knights Templar help seniors and families in crises, support the Philanthropia Project for single mothers and organise spiritual retreats. Being initiated as a member of the Order is not a formality – the candidate’s journey takes years. They study the history of the Knights Templar, Christian spirituality and explore their own motivations. “It’s not a club activity” the Prior stresses, “but a way of life.” The Czech Knights Templar today offer an alternative in a world that is losing its bearings. They espouse responsibility for creation, environmental protection, social justice and interfaith dialogue. Their rituals take place in the Sacred Heart Chapel in Sacré Coeur in Prague 5, with the Chancellor’s headquarters in Platnéřská Street – symbolically near the first Templar residence from 1232. The Scottish Knights Templar, together with the Czech branch, form the only original medieval order preserved under its original Latin name and registered with the European Commission’s executive agency (PIC #878046620), as well as with the UN Economic and Social Council. The popularity of the Knights Templar is so great today that other associations, just out of inspiration by their name, are being founded all over the world – yet even these often carry out meritorious work. However, only one true Order has remained: the one that survived in Scotland and returned to the Czech lands after seven hundred years. “The world does not lack technology, but wisdom. Not information, but understanding. Not strength, but service,” say today’s Czech Knights Templar. And so, even in the age of globalisation, they remain a bridge between the ideal and reality, eternity and the present.
Discover the fascinating world of the Knights Templar: https://www.scottishtemplars.eu/
