The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (3)

The First Steps of the New Patriarch

Giuseppe Valerga was born in Loano in 1813 to a modest family. He entered the seminary of Albenga, then continued his studies in Rome, where he obtained the title of Doctor of Law and Theology and a solid knowledge of Eastern languages. He entered Propaganda Fide in 1836: here he stood out for his skills and, having become assistant to the Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo, from 1842 to 1847 he was in Mosul to help the Dominican Fathers return to their mission.

His apostolic work, his serenity in facing situations that could lead to martyrdom several times, his academic work (such as the drafting of a Chaldean-Italian dictionary) made him an exemplary missionary. In May 1847 he was called to Rome and consecrated Patriarch by Pius IX himself on October 10, 1847. He was 34 years old.

In January 1848 he arrived in Jerusalem where he was received enthusiastically. He immediately started to train a native clergy, developing a network of missions in Palestine and securing economic aid from Europe. In facing the numerous difficulties that arose with local political and religious authorities, Patriarch Valerga remained faithful to his role.

Ten years later, the Holy See entrusted him with further responsibilities by appointing him Apostolic Delegate for Syria and Lebanon. Then “the right arm of Pius IX in the East” was called to Vatican Council I to support the Pope on the question of infallibility. Valerga would die immediately after the Council, following a fever contracted on a mission. At the news of his death, Pius IX declared: “We cannot replace Valerga.”

One of Archbishop Valerga's initiatives was the revival of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. Upon his arrival in the Holy Land, he became a very good judge of this ancient Order, which had been entrusted to him as Latin Patriarch. Since the end of the Crusades, the Franciscans were at the service of the Holy Sepulcher and welcomed pilgrims.

Some of these came to Jerusalem to receive the investiture as a Knight at the Tomb of Christ. These investitures were first entrusted to a lay knight, then the pope granted only to the Custos of the Holy Land the right to perform the investiture of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher who had put themselves in service and proved to be fearless pilgrims in facing the extreme trials of a journey to the Holy Land.

Historian Alphonse Dupront speaks of “a semi-solitary rite that the Church and the East will accept almost against their will, for the audacity of some isolated, wanderers or survivors of the Crusades campaigns.” The Custos and his successors exercised this right continuously from 1500 to 1848, thus granting the investiture to 1,835 knights.

Valerga quickly understood the usefulness that could derive from this ancient Order and gave it as a new task that of materially and spiritually supporting the Latin Patriarchate, just restored. It was with the publication of the Apostolic Letter Cum multa sapienter of 1868 that Pius IX officially sanctioned the rebirth of the Equestrian Order proposed by Bishop Valerga

Conclusion

The brief historical coordinates traced so far have shown that it is possible to date the beginning of the Patriarchate in Jerusalem around 451, as for Constantinople. As we have seen, however, only in the Crusades period (1099-1291), Jerusalem will be the seat of a Latin Patriarchate though not by the decision of the then Sovereign Pontiff.

The 19th century restoration of the Latin Patriarchate can instead be considered a pastoral response of the Holy See to the multiple geopolitical and religious interests born in the mid-1800s.