In these minutes, 133 cardinals are meeting in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to elect the next pope after Pope Francis’s passing. Soon the Sede Vacante will be over, and the world will say Habemus Papam.
Also present is a cardinal who is quite connected with the military. He is the General Chaplain of an ancient knightly order whose origins date back to the 11th century in Jerusalem. The Ordo Militaris et Hospitalaris Sancti Lazari Hierosolymitani fought alongside the Crusaders in the Battle of La Forbie in 1244, but they tragically lost the battle. Not a single knight of the Order of Saint Lazarus survived.
Six years later, again facing Egyptian troops, there was another defeat. The Grand Master of the Templars, Guillaume de Sonnac, however, earned a brave and honorable reputation: despite severe injuries and the loss of an eye, he fought his way out of the surrounded city with only two remaining knights and reached the Crusader camp. After medical treatment, he returned and helped repel a Muslim raid.
Today, Cardinal Antoine Kambanda doesn’t fight with sword and horse, but with a pen in the Sistine Chapel for a new, good Pope. If I couldn’t add their Medal of Honor to my collection, I would certainly also be satisfied with his pen.
May God bless them all.
IMORTALIS 
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