The year of our Lord 1981 was a memorable one: we witnessed the attempted assassinations of Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan; the appointment of the first woman, Sandra Day O’Connor, as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court; and the first space shuttle from this nation blasted off into the heavens.

Closer to home and of significant importance to us, the precursor of the Northeastern Lieutenancy came into existence on March 21,1981. It was the feast of Saint Benedict, the special patron of our present Holy Father, and the scene was the eternal city of Rome. The occasion was a dinner attended by the Grand Master of the Order, His Eminence Cardinal Maximilian de Furstenberg, His Eminence Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, the Archbishop of Boston, and His Excellency Sir Alfred J. Blasco, the Vice Governor General of the Order. The subject of this dinner meeting was the size of the Eastern Lieutenancy that had increased to nearly 2000 members since the introduction of the Order in the United States on April 30, 1929.

A second meeting with Cardinal Medeiros and Sir Alfred Blasco took place on April 8,1981 in Boston. With them was Sir Norman E. MacNeil who had been chosen by Cardinal Medeiros to be the first Magisterial Delegate of this new jurisdiction for the Northeastern United States. The states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont comprised the area of the new Magisterial Delegation. Connecticut remained as part of the Eastern Lieutenancy as did one hundred and sixty one Knights and Ladies throughout the other New England states.

With a base membership of sixty-two Knights and Ladies, who did transfer their membership, the new Northeastern Magisterial Delegation met for the first time on November 7, 1981 in Boston. Happily, Cardinal de Furstenberg and Sir Alfred Blasco were in the United States and were invited to attend that first formal meeting. The two dignitaries were duly impressed by the solemnity of the ceremonies and by the fact that, including the newly invested members, there were now one hundred and thirty five members. Cardinal de Furstenberg and Sir Alfred Blasco immediately elevated the Magisterial Delegation to a full-fledged Lieutenancy. Sir Norman E. MacNeil was named the first Lieutenant and His Eminence Cardinal Humberto Medeiros was designated as the first Grand Prior.

In January 1984, His Eminence Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the new Archbishop of Boston, succeeded the late Cardinal Medeiros as Grand Prior. His Excellency Norman MacNeil, who had served the Lieutenancy with great distinction, announced his retirement in June 1995 and was appointed a member of the Grand Magisterium. Sir George T. Ryan was subsequently named the second Lieutenant and was installed on November 18 of that year. Under his direction, the Lieutenancy introduced a number of initiatives including the Mass card program, the summer Mass and brunch, as well as a newsletter with Sir Dennis J. Looney, Jr. as the first editor.

In Rome, Cardinal Guissepe Caprio had succeeded Cardinal de Furstenberg as the Order’s Grand Master. He, in turn, was succeeded by Cardinal Carlo Furno who, on September 26, 1997, visited the Lieutenancy where he was introduced to a large group of the members at a luncheon in Boston.

In early 2000, His Excellency George T. Ryan was appointed a member of the Grand Magisterium and, after several years in that position, he was elevated to Vice Governor General. Sir Dennis J. Looney, Jr., who had been serving as the Chancellor of the Lieutenancy, was appointed the third Lieutenant on June 16, 2000. After the Grand Master's appointment of H.E. Dennis J. Looney, Jr., KGCHS, to membership on the Grand Magisterium of the Order, he appointed Sir John W. Spillane, KGCHS, to be the Lieutenant of the Northeastern Lieutenancy on October 24, 2006. Following the untimely death of H.E. John W. Spillane, the Grand Master appointed Sir John J. Monahan, KGCHS as the new Lieutenant.

In addition to the Lieutenancy’s commitment to the Order’s overall mission to preserve the Christian community in the Holy Land, it has also undertaken a special apostolate to provide financial support for the Christian students enrolled in the Patriarchal school in Marka that is located in Amman, Jordan. The school was founded in 1963 to serve local Jordanian Christians and the Palestinian Christians who were displaced by the wars and strife in the Holy Land.

Each spring, the Lieutenancy meets at St. Anselm Abbey and College in New Hampshire for its annual Day of Recollection and it holds a Mass and brunch in the summer on Cape Cod. The Lieutenancy’s Annual Meeting and Investiture Weekend is held in the fall of the year with the venue rotating among the various Dioceses of the Lieutenancy. Its website (www.eohsjnortheast.org) helps in communicating with the members.

Spirituality has been at the core of its activities. The Lieutenancy’s religious Christmas cards encourage the keeping of the proper Christmas spirit. Many members also avail themselves of the special Mass cards for bereavements, sicknesses, and special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and graduations. The unique feature of these cards is that the Masses are celebrated for the requested intentions in a shrine or church in the Holy Land.

At the conclusion of the 2006 Investiture Weekend, the Lieutenancy will have a total membership of 720 Knights and Ladies. Since its inception in 1981, the Lieutenancy will have contributed, by the end of this year, over $3,000,000 for the support of the Order’s mission in the Holy Land.

We thank God for the countless blessings that He has bestowed on our members in the past quarter century and we pray that He will continue to bless us and our work.