_SIGILLUM

_{English Edition - nr.1 - March 1997}

_{Templar Unity will be Discussed in the next Meeting of the Alliance}

_{The International Federative Alliance will discuss a matter of the utmost importance for our Order in the next World Meeting, to be held in Lisbon, next May. Unity and Strategy. The future lies ahead…}

_{Once again, the I.F.A. will organize a World Meeting of Templars, this time in Lisbon, hosted by the Grand Priory of Portugal. And it's not just one more meeting (which one of the Alliance's is?)! It's a very special occasion, since there will be present several Priories and Grand Priories that have requested information about our Organization, expecting to join in with us.}

_{As always, our arms are opened to other Brothers and Sisters from the Order, for the sole porpose of the Alliance is to achieve Templar Unity.}

_{But the fact that so many Templars coming from so many countries are going to be together to talk about common purposes and ideas, can not be wasted. The discussions will serve not only for the joining in of new Priories to the Alliance, but also to discuss our strategies for the future. In fact, this is what we consider more important.}

_{There's no point in joining an organization with no future. And the fact that we have been working in the Alliance for more than 10 years, without stupid wars and pointless discussions, was made possible only by the vision we have of the future. By the way we carefully plan our actions. By the permanent exchange of information between our Priories. By the regular meetings and talks we have every year. And - a true secret well kept! - by the deep joy and happiness we feel whenever we meet.}

_{But we can't plan a strategy without first knowing where we are and where we want to go. These issues will be in discussion in Lisbon, and every Knight or Dame is welcome to take part in the discussion. God willing, we will have, in the end, a document with clear instructions and actions planned. And the future - our future - lies ahead.}

_{GeoGraphica Project was assigned to the Gualdim Pais Institute in Portugal.}

_{The new Project of the International Institute of Templar Studies (Research Institute of the Alliance) is now under way in several countries. In Portugal it was assigned to the Gualdim Pais Institute, and Arch. Estevão Tojal was nominated as the president of the Commission in this country.}

_{It was publically announced by the Institute that the Project will study Templar Castles, Abbeys, Towers, Farms, Legends, Maps, Objects, etc. - in a word, everything that has any relation with the Order. In Portugal, the Institute is expecting, as it happened in other occasions, to have the support of the Ministry of Culture, through the official Portuguese Institute of the Architectural and Archeological National Heritage (organization that administers most of the National Monuments in Portugal).}

_{It is now confirmed that the plans of the Convent of Christ and Templar Castle of Tomar will be allowed to be copied for the Project, by special permition of the owners, since they are of restrict access and where never published in their entirety. The same can happen with the plans of some churches dating back to the 12th. Century.}

_{The Gualdim Pais Institute is also planning an exhibition of Templar objects for 1998 in the "Expo 98" world exhibition of Lisbon (the last of this century). Since the theme of the world exhibition is "The Sea", and as it is well known, it was the Order of Christ who led portuguese Descoveries, our exhibition could very well be about the "Templars and the Sea", with the material gathered during the first stage of the GeoGraphica Project. Priories of the Order will be invited to take part in this event, and more information can be obtained with the Secretary General of the Alliance.}