In 1847 Blessed Pius IX re-established the Latin Patriarchate. Later that same year, he began what was to become the Order in its modern form when he confirmed a power of the appointment of Knights in the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Over the years which followed, that Patriarch, Mgr Valega, undertook much work, such that in 1868 the Papal Bull Cum Multa Sapienter, was issued affirming the Order and from which it has evolved today. Significantly, in 1888 Pope Leo XIII decreed that the Order was to include the appointment of Dames within its ranks.

Canonised and Beatified members

• Saint Contardo of Este (1216 – 16 April 1249)
• Saint Pope Pius X (2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914)
• Blessed Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet (15 August 1818 – 4 April 1894)
• Blessed Andrea Carlo Ferrari (13 August 1850 – 2 February 1921)
• Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster (18 January 1880 – 30 August 1954)
• Blessed Bartolo Longo (10 February 1841 – 5 October 1926)
• Blessed Aloysius Viktor Stepinac (8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960)

Over the late 19th and 20th centuries, the Constitution of the Order was variously amended by Papal ordinance, the effects of which included permitting investiture to take place other than in Jerusalem, and the appointment of a Cardinal as Grand Master (rather than the Pope himself). Our Current Grand Master is His Eminence Fernando Cardinal Filoni and the Order currently numbers at approximately 30,000 members worldwide

The Order In New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Order is articulated in a single Magistral Delegation, led by Dame Carleen Anne Blucher, DCHS.

The Grand Prior of the Magistral Delegation is His Excellency, Bishop Stephen Marmion Lowe KC*HS,

The first member in New Zealand was also, our first bishop, Jean-Baptiste François Pompallier and he is commonly depicted with the Jerusalem Cross of the Order.