The Templar diaspora of the 20th century

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In 1947, de Sousa Fontes published his revision of the Statutes. It is not clear whether they were ever approved by a General Chapter. The following year, on August 20, 1948, wanting to keep the title of Regent in the family, de Sousa Fontes, in a private act, designated his son Fernando Campelo Pinto Pereira de Sousa Fontes as his successor for life. In 1956, for health reasons, Fernando de Sousa Fontes renounces the Regency of the Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jérusalem (OSMTJ) in favor of his son who on 19 February 1959, upon the death of his father, proclaimed himself Regent of the Order , with the title of Prince Regent.

​Also in 1956, precisely on 24 March, the Regent of the French Chapter, Guerardelle, Count of Ribauville, appointed Prince Don Gabriel Inellas de Clazomene e Rodosto (1913 – 1987) resident in Brazil, 49th Grand Master of the Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani Ordo (SMTHO). With this act the Brazilian observance originates and the magisterial seat of this group moves to South America (Brazil).

​In 1970, the Grand Priors who did not recognize the authority of de Sousa Fontes met in Paris for a General Chapter aimed at reconstituting the Order, improperly torn apart by the Portuguese usurpation.

​The Grand Prior of France, Marshal Count Anton Zdrojewski (formerly Grand Prior General for Europe and, according to him, head of the Polish Resistance in occupied France and, after 1945, Minister of the Polish Government in exile) is proclaimed the 49th Grand Master of the Order. Zdrojewski reorganizes Templar obedience: each Grand Priory is recognized as having its own autonomy so as to be able to correspond to the profound aspirations of the different nationalities that make up the Order. Upon his death in 1989, he was succeeded by George Lamirand who led the Order until 4 February 1994, the date of his departure.

​In the same year, De Sousa Fontes declared the Paris Chapter null and convened its own General Chapter, which took place in three different sessions (in Paris, Chicago and Tomar) and which saw the participation of the majority of the Grand Priories, always in search of a non-traumatic solution to the summit problem.

​At the subsequent Chapter of Chicago (Illinois) in the USA, in 1971, numerous and important Resolutions were approved: the Order must be Christian, universal and not limited to any nationality or language, Latin was declared the official language and the search for a member of a royal house to assume the role of Grand Master.

​On 25 September 1983, in an International Convent of the Order, the admission of women to the Order as Dame Templars was decided.

In 1988, disappointed by the Portuguese leadership of de Sousa Fontes, many European and South American Grand Priories acquired autonomous statutes and, in the castle of Siguenza (Spain), led by the Grand Priory of Spain, joined forces in the IFA (International Federative Alliance) with the aim of creating an international Templar organization that respects the autonomy of the individual Grand Priories. Thus the new observance of the IFA was born.

​In 1990, at the head of the Supremus Militaris Ordo Templi Hierosolymitani (SMOTJ), de Sousa Fontes adopted the revised Statutes which he presented to the General Chapter of Santiago (1993: Toja) in Spain, where, however, they were neither discussed nor approved. At the same time, from 23 to 25 June 1995, an International Conclave of the Templars met in London, organized by the SMOTJ during which the Council of Grand Priors was established, chaired by the Grand Prior of NATO, Esposito and with General Secretary, the Grand Prior of Germany, von Rind with the task of administering the Order, of reviewing the Statutes and updating them and of presenting suitable candidates for the election of the Grand Master.

​IFA representatives make it known that they are willing to rejoin the SMOTJ if the Prince Regent resigns. It is decided to convene a Grand Chapter in Salzburg (Austria), but de Sousa Fontes refuses to authorize such a meeting and, as head of the SMOTJ, declares all the resolutions taken by the London Conclave null and void.

​From 3 to 5 November 1995, the Council of Grand Priors also met in Salzburg and revoked all power from the Prince Regent de Sousa Fontes.

​On the initiative of the US Grand Priory, the Atlantic observance was born in 1995, with the name of Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH), formed by some Grand Priories from both sides of the Atlantic.

​The Grand International Council of the Templars meets in Paris from 15 to 17 March 1996. It is proposed to confer on de Sousa Fontes the title of Prince Regent Emeritus, in order to avoid the consolidation of a profound conflict between the Templars, but the proposal is rejected by the interested party.

​The Grand Council then withdrew all recognition of de Sousa Fontes as leader of the Templar world, a decision later reaffirmed by the Grand Council of Salzburg II (1 – 5 November 1996). Other Grand Priories are organized autonomously or on a regional basis (Spain, Portugal, Australia and Belgium).

​From 25 to 27 April 1996, the IFA Congress was held in Tomar, Portugal, where the so-called Tomar Protocol was adopted, with the aim of accelerating the creation of an international union of Grand Priories.

​The OSMTH meets in Aalborg (Denmark), from 29 July to 1 August 1997, to prepare the agenda of the Council of Grand Priors which will meet the following autumn in the United States.

​A representation of the OSMTH Council also participates in the IFA Congress in Lisbon with the aim of taking the first steps towards a Confederation of all Grand Priories. The IFA Grand Priors then meet in Siguenza, Spain, where they decide on the election of a Grand Master and the establishment of a Council of Grand Priors and an International Magisterium. It is also decided that an IFA representation will participate in the subsequent OSMTH Council in Alexandria, Virginia (USA) on 17 and 18 October 1997. In a subsequent OSMTH Council, in Turku (Finland), on 2 – 5 July 1998, it is decided note that, at least for the moment, a merger with the IFA is not possible. The criteria for contribution quotas are established.

​At the subsequent OSMTH Council in Glasgow (Scotland) on 17 and 18 April 1999, the formal constitution of the Council of Grand Priors and the registration of the OSMTH in Switzerland and the status of an international non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations were decided. Admiral James Carey (USA) is appointed Grand Commander and Major General Sir Roy Redgrave (UK) is elected Provisional Grand Master.

​On 19 August of the same year, Sir Roy Redgrave wrote to the General Secretary of the IFA, Luis Carlos de Matos, formally dissociating himself from the IFA decision to proceed with the election of a Grand Master. Nonetheless, the IFA elects its Grand Master in Alcalà de Henares (Spain), in the person of the Grand Prior of Spain, Don Fernand de Toro-Garland, who, as the first necessary act, dissolves the IFA, giving life to OSMTHU (ORDO SUPREMUS MILITARIS TEMPLI HIEROSOLYMITANI UNIVERSALIS) which brings together all the 44 General Priories that made it up and which had given rise to the democratic elections of the Grand Master. The new statutes of the OSMTHU provide for democratic elections every five years.

​Following the discovery of the Chinon parchment by the researcher Barbara Frale, which occurred in September 2001, in 2002 the Grand Master Don Fernando de Toro Garland with his entourage of Priors General was invited (by a wish of the Venerated Pope John Paul II) by Monsignor Sergio Pagano, Prefect of the Secret archive of the Vatican, to examine the Chinon Parchment which allowed the creation of the Work “Exemplaria Praetiosa” of the “Processus contra Templarios”, presented to the world audience on 25 October 2007, which marked the key premise for rediscovering the unity of the various Templar realities in the world, in the spirit of service and loyalty towards the Holy Father and the Catholic Church of Rome.

​After five years of enlightened Mastery, and following regular elections, on 13 August 2004, in the splendid setting of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), during the Jacobean Jubilee, the handover between the Grand Master Don Fernando de Toro Garland and the newly elected Grand Master Don Antonio Paris, former Prior General of Italy of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (OSMTJ).