International Order of Saint Stanislaus

The International Order of Saint Stanislaus is a Polish fraternal order founded on 16 May 2004.[1]

This article is about the Polish fraternal order founded in 2004. For other uses, see Order of Saint Stanislaus (disambiguation).

Certificate of International Order of Saint Stanislas.

Although claiming to follow the "code of chivalry"[2] it acknowledges itself as a recently founded private organisation without fount of honour and no legitimate order of chivalry.[3] In doing so, the organisation frankly acknowledges the problems with its background organisation, Ordo Sancti Stanislai founded by Juliusz Nowina-Sokolnicki in 1979 as an attempted revival of the Polish Order of Saint Stanislaus, in turn founded in 1765.

The International Order of Saint Stanislaus is generally regarded as a fraternal order. It has been compared to the masonic movement.[4][5]

History

Background

In 1979, Juliusz Nowina-Sokolnicki and a Polish exile group claiming to be the legitimate government founded the Ordo Sancti Stanislai, attempting to revive the Polish Order of Saint Stanislaus, founded in 1765 as an order of knighthood of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,[6] since it had been incorporated by the Russian Empire in 1831 as the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Imperial House of Romanov).

However, the management of the new organisation resulted in several claimed successor movements.[7] During the 1990s, disputes with Juliusz Nowina-Sokolnicki caused several national sub-groups of this organisation, called priories, to break away.[3]

Foundation

In 2004, several of the existing national priories of the Ordo Sancti Stanislai joined together to create the International Order of Saint Stanislaus[1] as an alliance of national groups.[8]

Notes
  1. Kurek, Eaglan (2010). "History". West European Grand Priory, International Order of Saint Stanislas. Retrieved 12 December 2012. On the 16th May, 2004, a number of Grand Priors from various Countries met in Kiev, Ukraine, and decided to split from Nowina-Sokolnicki’s Order and form the International Order of St Stanislas. We do not claim to be the authenticate original Order, only that we follow their basic principles and precepts. We recognise that there are several Orders of St. Stanislas and are happy to welcome members of any of them to our functions and acknowledge that each in their own way do good works. Although originally a Christian Order membership is now open to any male or female over the age of 21, (18 by agreement of the Grand Prior), who profess a belief in a Supreme Being and is a believer in the fundamental principles of chivalry.
  2. "Simonov Inducted into the Order of Saint Stanislas". Hargrave Military Academy-News. Chatham, Virginia: Hargrave Military Academy. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2012. The International Order of Saint Stanislas is in its 6th year, and features more than 1500 members in countries around the world. It is founded on the work of Saint Stanislas, a Bishop of Krakow, who assumed the ‘martyr’s wreath’ for defending the people of Krakow against despotism. The Order follows the code of chivalry while remaining in the service of mankind.
  3. "About the Order of Saint Stanislas". British Association of Chevaliers of Saint Stanislas, The International Order of Saint Stanislas. London: British Association of Chevaliers of Saint Stanislas. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2012. The 1st elected President of the democratic Poland, Lech Walesa, was presented with the Presidential insignia and seals of the Grand Master of the Orders of the White Eagle and Polonia Restituta 0n the 22nd December, 1990, by Ryszard Kaczorowski and not Nowina-Sokolnicki. There were further problems in the Order when Nowina-Sokolnicki declared the Grand Mastership of the Order to be the hereditary prerogative of his family, and on the 1st January, 1997, the National Chapter announce the dismissal of Nowina-Sokolnicki and the election of Count Kazimierz Dworak-Biziel-Dworakowski, a resident of the USA, as the 8th Grand Master. At the same time the Catholic Church of Poland recognised Marek Kwiatkowski as Grand Master of the Order and he headed an alternative Chapter...On the 16th May, 2004, a number of Grand Priors from various Countries met in Kiev, Ukraine, and decided to split from Nowina-Sokolnicki’s Order and form the International Order of St Stanislas. We do not claim to be the authenticate original Order, only that we follow their basic principles and precepts. We recognise that there are several Orders of St. Stanislas and are happy to welcome members of any of them to our functions and acknowledge that each in their own way do good works
  4. "Chornovil legislation would criminalize Freemasonry". Kiev Post. 24 April 2003. Retrieved 14 December 2012. He identified the Order of St. Stanislas, which counts numerous high-ranking government officials among its members, as a Masonic organization. The order is not affiliated with Freemasonry, though both are non-profit charitable organizations.
  5. Osta, Peter van. "Fraternal Societies - Sororities". Philosophy. Retrieved 14 December 2012. The Order of Saint Stanislas, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Theta, Rosslyn Templars, Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
  6. Duckers, Peter (2008). European orders and decorations to 1945. Botley, Oxford, UK: Shire Publications. pp. 67–79. ISBN 9780747806707.
  7. Duren, Peter Bander van (1995). Orders of knighthood and of merit: the pontifical, religious and secularised Catholic-founded Orders and their relationship to the Apostolic See. Gerrards Cross: Smythe. pp. 380–86, 682–90. ISBN 9780861403714.
  8. "About Order". International Order of Saint Stanislas. Retrieved 14 December 2012. The International Order of Saint Stanislas is a charitable and guerdon organization, recognized all over the world. It is an alliance of national associations of the Order members.
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