St. Vincent Home Officers Past Priors Christian Order About the Order Grand Priory USA OSMTH Aims of the Order Knights Templar History Suggested Reading Events Newsletter Charities St. Vincent History Photo Gallery Flowers of the Forest Membership Contact Information
“Beauseant” – the battle flag of the Knights Templar
OSMTH: The international governing body of Knights Templar
Our official name is Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, Latin for “The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem”, and often shortened to the initials OSMTH or SMOTJ. Our Order was founded on the principles first adopted by the original Templar Knights in France in the Year 1118 and carried out in those early days from their home in the Temple of Solomon in the Holy City of Jerusalem, provided for them by then King of Jerusalem Baldwin, the Second. In these modern times, OSMTH is international in nature with members from over 40 nations, ecumenical Christian in our religious beliefs welcoming Members of all Christian religions, and focused on matters of human rights, political and religious freedom, and humanitarian aid to the world's less fortunate. We are officially recognized by the United Nations in Special Consultative Status and furnish OSMTH Official Delegations to the United Nations in New York City, Vienna, and Geneva.
Like the Knights Templar of old, we operate as a modern-day worldwide network of educated professionals in such widely diverse protocols as senior government officials, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, senior clergy, military officers, physicians and surgeons, engineers, historians, and humanitarian aid caregivers. OSMTH represents many of the most respected and credible senior officials in their home nations, providing both a highly respected body of expertise, an influential voice to support commitment to the less fortunate of the world, and to promote the time-tested chivalric ideals of honor, honesty, civility, tolerance, care for our fellow man, and support for ecumenical religious faith throughout our individual nations and throughout the world community.
We often find ourselves working with and through other Chivalric Orders, the senior leadership of other nations, and with other Non-Governmental Organizations [NGO] in order to provide humanitarian aid and other involvement in resolution of serious humanitarian needs or political, ethnic, and religious conflict. Engaging the respect and credibility of our world membership in their home nations, we are able to bring resolution and assistance in matters that quite often become bogged down in the bureaucracy of governments and regulations. Our objectives include the international promotion of inter-cultural and inter-religious contacts and worldwide networks in order to help build bridges of brotherhood between nations and cultures, as well as individual good works performed by individual anonymous Knights and Dames. As ecumenical Christians, we also seek to increase awareness of conflicts and their causes and in so doing, work towards their future prevention and ultimate peaceful coexistence of all nations. Because our Order began its first work in The Holy City of Jerusalem in the 12th Century, The Holy Land and its Cradle of Christianity are of the highest interest to us in this regard as evidenced by our most recent trip to Jerusalem and our work there with the senior leadership of every Christian Church in Jerusalem.
OSMTH aspires to foster a cosmopolitan society in which differences among peoples, cultures, and governments will be both respected and appreciated. We seek the betterment of humanity through education, world brotherhood, chivalric principles, and civil behavior and treatment among one-another.
Our membership standards are purposely very high, our financial and time commitments are not for everyone, and our dedication to a more caring world requires significant expectations that not everyone can meet. But for those who qualify, the OSMTH Knights Templar Order offers an unequalled world class Chivalric Order with an international network of some of the most sophisticated and influential professional men and women from over 40 different nations.
St. Vincent Home Officers Past Priors Christian Order About the Order Grand Priory USA OSMTH Aims of the Order Knights Templar History Suggested Reading Events Newsletter Charities St. Vincent History Photo Gallery Flowers of the Forest Membership Contact Information