In 2022, the Priory of The Temple Church was preparing to host the 2023 Grand Convent and Investiture and decided to formally ask permission to hold our ecclesiastical Convent services at the breathtaking Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, in Orlando. Our delegation to accomplish this included me, Chvse. Claudia Chamberland, then Prior and Grand C&I Committee Chair, Her Excellency Chvse. Linda Ross, as well as three very devout and involved Roman Catholics: His Excellency Past Prior Robert S. Miller, Chvse. Margaret “Margo” Miller, and the (then newly knighted) late Chev. Robert “Bob” Sherman, whose family had long been strong supporters of the Shrine.
The meeting was scheduled. The meeting was held. The proposal was advanced up the chain. The request was denied because the Orlando Diocese was unable to schedule the very busy Shrine to meet all our needs.
Fair enough.
Yet, “somewhere” in all the complex machinations, “someone” used the term “heretic” in connection with historic Templarism – certainly not in connection with our Roman Catholic members. This term is typically applied in ignorance or as a social entendre, and it is never comfortable to be in those crosshairs.
I open today with this anecdote, which I have kept intentionally vague for reasons of preserving unity in the Body of Christ. This “Battlefield Report” is not about slander, but about simple Christian education. I’m about to let you know the true, detailed story of how we Templars, both modern as well as our forefathers, are not heretics and, despite internet lore, have never been officially declared heretics by the Church. Our forefathers and we are, in fact, innocents framed by an envious and evil King to use his power to seize the Templar assets nearly an entire millennium ago.
The Chinon Parchment (also known as the Chinon Document) is a key historical record from August 17–20, 1308. It was discovered in the Vatican Apostolic Archive in September 2001 by Vatican archivist and historian Barbara Frale while she was researching Templar trial records.
The Chinon Parchment records Pope Clement V’s (1264 – 1314) formal Papal Inquiry conducted at the Chateau de Chinon, located on the Vienne River in the province of Touraine, central France. During this process, senior leaders of the Knights Templar, including Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were interrogated by cardinals regarding allegations of heresy and other misconduct leveled against the order by King Philip IV of France.
Under extreme torture for nearly one year prior to the Chinon Castle interviews, the Templar leaders were rumored to have “confessed” to certain irregular initiation practices —such as denying Christ, spitting on a cross, and other acts. Expressing repentance under extreme torture, they received absolution from the Pope, who lifted their excommunication and restored them to full sacramental communion with the Catholic Church, contingent on continued penitence. The Chinon papal inquiry reflected Clement V’s initial intent to investigate the charges thoroughly and potentially reform the Order rather than condemn it outright.
The August 17–20, 1308 document was created immediately following the papal inquiry at Chateau de Chinon. It is an official record drafted and written by three cardinals appointed by Clement V as his representatives: Bérenger Frédol, Étienne de Suisy, and Landolfo Brancacci. They conducted the interrogations of the senior Templars (including Grand Master Jacques de Molay), recorded the “confessions,” penitence, and absolution from heresy charges, and sealed the parchment with their own seals.
Unfortunately, the document itself was thereupon “lost” deep in the Vatican Apostolic Archives for centuries, largely obscure due to misfiling, until its rediscovery by Frale in 2001. It was not formally “recognized” in a medieval sense beyond its original issuance and use in papal proceedings.
But the Holy See’s official public release of the parchment occurred in 2007 (quite a bit too late to save DeMolay et al.) through the scholarly publication Processus Contra Templarios (“Proceedings Against the Templars”), a limited-edition facsimile collection produced by the Vatican Secret Archives [sic]. This edition, comprising 799 numbered copies with a premiere on October 25, 2007, made the Chinon Parchment and related trial records widely accessible for academic study, affirming its authenticity and highlighting Clement V’s absolution of key Templar figures from heresy charges.
Today, the Catholic Church does not officially regard the Knights Templar as heretics.
Let me say that again:
Today, the Catholic Church does not officially regard the Knights Templar as heretics.
Historical analysis, including the 2007 publication of trial documents, supports the view that the primary accusations of heresy were politically motivated by King Philip IV and unsubstantiated by any evidence of doctrinal error. The Order’s dissolution in 1312 via the Bull Vox in excelso was an administrative disbanding prompted by scandal and immense royal pressure from King Philip IV, certainly not a definitive condemnation of the entire Order as heretical. Modern Catholic scholarship and sources describe the persecution as unjust, with confessions most often obtained under torture, and affirm that the Church views the Templars’ doctrinal innocence as well established.
In summary, no current Vatican document or papal statement declares the Templars as heretical then or now. The 1312 dissolution of the Knights Templar was administrative (for the “good of the Church” amid scandal), not a dogmatic condemnation of heresy like those against groups such as the Cathars. Portugal’s Order of Christ (the direct successor and reconstitution of the Knights Templar in Portugal) was established in 1318 and was approved by Pope John XXII in 1319, further indicating no ongoing heretical taint. Thus, while the Church historically suppressed the Order because of the scandal whipped up by Philip IV, it has never officially labeled the Knights Templar as heretics.
It is interesting to me that all this is well known, easy to find in both scholarly and public sources, and yet the detrimental myth continues because of a simple “misfiling” of an ancient parchment.
As a Templar and as a Southern Baptist who received adoption into the tribe of Judah through the righteous sacrifice of Christ for my sins, Jesus is not only my Brother (making me a child of God), He is my Savior and my God. That’s all the official Recognition I will ever need on any given day throughout eternity – certainly not by Popes, Kings, Presidents, or any religious organizational baggage. And Jesus is also the Reason I can accurately refer to all of my Templar family as eternal brothers and sisters, regardless of the sign above the doors of the churches we attend. We are all true spiritual relatives in the only circle that counts. Together, arm-in-arm, we travel and work in unity and with love, doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God. (Micha 6:8)
“…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all Who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:2-6)
Amen!