CINCINNATI, Oh. – An Archdiocese of Cincinnati member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem was awarded the Pilgrim Shell at a ceremony in Jerusalem on March 6th, 2020. Rev. Ibrahim Shomali, Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate, presented Sir Edmon L. Poore, KHS with the decoration on behalf of the Latin Patriarch, H.E. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa. The Pilgrim Shell – the ancient badge of the pilgrim – is the most significant decoration of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. It is awarded only to Knights and Dames who make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and pray at the Holy Sepulchre of our Risen Lord.

Sir Edmon departed Cincinnati for the Holy Land on February 26 (Ash Wednesday) on a much anticipated 14-day pilgrimage, but he was forced to return home four days early due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout Israel. “My most distinctive memory was our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee,” he said. “Of the sites we visited, the Sea of Galilee is the undisputed area where Christ recruited and bonded with his chosen Apostles.”

Sir Edmon is a parishioner at St. Columban Church in Loveland, where he serves as a Eucharistic Minister, a Sunday collection counter, and a third-degree knight in the Knights of Columbus. He’s a three-year running past president of St. Columban’s St. Vincent de Paul Society and has worked the parish festival for the past 40 years. As a member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, he is particularly drawn to improving the conditions for modern-day Christians in the Holy Land, where their numbers have been declining in recent years. “The Order allows its members to have a personal relationship with the existing Christians in the Holy Land through our spiritual and financial support,” he said. “As Catholics, we need a Christian presence in the Holy Land to carry on the tradition that began 2000 years ago.”

The Order of the Holy Sepulchre is an Ecclesiastical Order of the Holy See that provides for the needs of the Latin Patriarchate and for activities and initiatives that are necessary to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land.