HRH, Duke of Gloucester to Preside over Services

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- At 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 5, the fifty-first annual Investiture Service of the Priory in the USA of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem will be held in San Francisco at Grace Cathedral.  The Order's Grand Prior, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO, acting on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, will dub two Members as knights, and invest new and recently promoted Members with their insignia of grade.

The Order of St John, with its roots in the 11th century, is an international order of chivalry led by  Her Majesty The Queen as Sovereign Head of the Order.  The Investiture Service is rich in pageantry and tradition and is part of the Priory's annual Investiture weekend, which is held in a different city each year.  The last time the Investiture was held in San Francisco was in 2004.

At the Investiture Service, three Members of the Order from California will be promoted, including one at the high level of Knight, and 11 new Members from California will be invested into the Order.  In all, there are 126 Members in California and over 1100 Members in the United States. The highly traditional, colorful Service is open to the public and the media.  

The medieval Order of St John began as a monastic hospital in Jerusalem in the 11th century and evolved into a chivalric order known as the Knights Hospitallers, offering medical care and security to pilgrims.  The Order's present-day mission continues to focus on its roots of caring for poor and sick people of all races and creeds in over 40 countries.

The Order of St John is headquartered in London and has over 25,000 Members worldwide.  Membership in the Order of St John is open to men and women, is highly selective and is based on a record of dedicated commitment to local, national and/or international charitable work.  Over the years, Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi, President Nelson Mandela, the late King Hussein of Jordan and his wife Queen Noor, Edwina Mountbatten, Florence Nightingale, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. have been active in the Order, as have many members of the British Royal Family. 

The Priory in the USA is one of eight Priories of the Order internationally.  It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.  The primary mission of the U.S. Priory is to support The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital in East Jerusalem.  For 129 years, the Hospital has provided screening, treatment, and health programs for patients of all ages without regard to creed or ability to pay.  For decades, American Members have raised funds, donated medical supplies, recruited volunteer doctors, specialist surgeons and nurses, and volunteered their own time and expertise to the Hospital.

The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group is the only charitable provider of eye care in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where rates of blindness are ten times higher than in the West, 80% of which is preventable.  In 2010, the Hospital Group treated 102, 382 outpatients and performed 4,184 operations in East Jerusalem and Hebron, and its clinics in Gaza and Anabta with additional outreach provided by mobile vans which reach thousands in remote villages. 

Diabetes, corneal opacity, glaucoma, cataracts and severe allergic eye diseases that cause vision loss are widespread, as are congenital eye conditions such as strabismus (crossed eyes), amblyopia (lazy eye), binocular vision and diplopia (double vision).  St John Eye Hospital advocates strong interfaith relationships and its supporters include Jewish, Christian and Muslim individuals and institutions.

For more information, please consult the Priory's website at www.saintjohn.org  and The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital's website at www.stjohneyehospital.org. 

Media contacts in San Francisco:
Jim Terzian, Event Director, 408-739-3828 or jimterzian@tigrinc.com
Benjamin Dhong, Press Relations, 415-595-2582 or ben@bd-interiors.com

Media contact in Washington, DC: 
Ruth Ann Skaff, Executive Director, 202-510-9691 or raskaff@saintjohn.org

Offices in Washington, DC: 
The Order of St. John
1875 K St NW, Ste 603
Washington, DC  20006-1251
202-510-9691

Media Contact: Benjamin Dhong Order of St. John, 415-595-2582, ben@bd-interiors.com

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SOURCE Order of St. John

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http://www.orderofstjohn.org