Diocesan News

Knight Moves! Diocese of Brooklyn Priests Join Order of Holy Sepulchre

October 27, 2025
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Father Patrick Longalong (left) says he has a deeper understanding of the struggles of Christians in the Middle East after visiting holy sites in Jerusalem. After the investiture ceremony, he and Father Alonzo Cox (right) caught up with Joan Geiger, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Snows Church in Floral Park, who is a dame of the Holy Sepulchre. (Photos: Courtesy of Father Patrick Longalong)

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Father Alonzo Cox has been to Jerusalem several times, but he said he will develop an even deeper connection to the region on his next visit. 

That’s because Father Cox, pastor of St. Martin De Porres Parish in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was installed as a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, an international Catholic order whose mission is to provide financial and spiritual support to the Christian community in the Holy Land. 

“I do feel an added sense of responsibility, especially to pray for Christians who are being persecuted,” said Father Cox, who was installed at an investiture at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Oct. 11, along with another Diocese of Brooklyn priest, Father Patrick Longalong. 

Like Father Cox, Father Longalong has also visited the Holy Land before — first as a seminarian, then as a pastor leading his parishioners on pilgrimages — and said the journeys gave him a deeper understanding of his faith. 

Father Longalong, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, recalled advice he and other seminarians received from Msgr. Peter Vaccari, the rector of St. Joseph Seminary and College at the time, and the leader of the pilgrimage. 

“The way he instructed us, which made it more of a reality later on for us, is that we would not be able to understand Rome until we understood the Holy Land,” Father Longalong said. 

Under the rules, priests cannot be admitted to the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre unless nominated by their bishop and approved by the Vatican. 

“I’m very proud of Father Cox and Father Longalong. This shows a real interest in the Holy Sepulchre, in the Holy Land,” said Bishop Robert Brennan, who attended the investiture. 

“Sometimes, when we think of the Holy Land, we think of the holy sites, and that’s very, very important. But the Holy Sepulchre is also concerned about the lives of the people who are living there, the people who are suffering under very difficult circumstances, especially today.” 

“Priests like Father Cox and Father Longalong show a special concern, yes, for the heritage of our faith and at the very same time, for the people who are living there, and really have made a commitment to show that concern in concrete ways,” Bishop Brennan said. 

The additions of Father Cox and Father Longalong bring the current number of priests from the Diocese of Brooklyn who are members of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre to 38, according to the Knights. 

The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, are a papal order under the authority of the Holy See. The pope is their sovereign. The order was founded in 1099. 

The word equestrian is part of the title “because the knights got started during the Crusades,” explained George Prezioso, a knight since 2000. “They were sent out by the pope to protect the Holy Land.”  

The name sepulchre comes from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site in Jerusalem’s Old City where Jesus was crucified and buried. 

Father Patrick Longalong (center) and Father Alonzo Cox say they are grateful to Bishop Robert Brennan for nominating them to become knights. “I am deeply honored and humbled,” Father Cox adds

Membership in the order is by invitation only and is restricted to men and women (who are called Dames of the Holy Sepulchre) who have exhibited outstanding service to the Catholic Church. 

According to the Vatican, there are currently 30,000 knights and dames around the world. 

Prezioso, a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Ridge, said the knights are urged to go on at least one pilgrimage to the Holy Land in their lives. 

Father Cox said he has fond memories of his pilgrimage as a seminarian.  

“My first experience of just being in the places that our Lord was just breathtaking,” he said. “My second visit was as a priest, and I was able to bring some of my parishioners. And again, it was just a tremendous grace-filled moment for me, being able to celebrate Mass in the actual Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.” 

Pilgrimages are just one part of the duties. Father Cox explained that the knights also help maintain holy sites and “promote and protect the Christian presence in the Holy Land.” 

Father Longalong described himself as being “overwhelmed” by the opportunity to join the knights. 

“I thought about it a lot,” he said,” and I never felt so in touch with the Church as a whole global Church until I understood the mission of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.”