* According to the Times (29/11/04) the Templars in Hertfordshire has written to the Vatican asking the Pope for an apology for the persecution of Friday 13th 1307. As apologies has been made by the Roman Catholic Church for the persecution of Galileo and for the Crusades, the Inquisition, Christian anti-Semitism, the Templars at Hertfordshire are hoping for apology as well. The letter goes"...We shall witness the 700th anniversary of the persecution of our order on 13th October 2007...it would be just and fitting for the Vatican to acknowledge our grievance in advance of this day of mourning..." Tim Acheson who claims established Templar links through his Scottish Asheson family says, "The Papacy and the Kingdom of France conspired to destroy the Order for reasons which modern historians judge to be primarily political. Their methods and motives are now universally regarded as brutal, unfair and unjustified". Mr. Asheson continues "The Knights Templar officially ceased to exist in the early 1300s, but the Order continued underground. It was a huge organization and the vast majority of Templars survived the persecution, including most of their leaders, along with most of their treasure and most importantly, their original values and tradition".

Ruth Gledhill columnist in the Times reports, "The Hertford Mercury newspaper has reported newly discovered Templar links with Hertford, including a warren of tunnels beneath the town. At the heart of the maze of tunnels is Hertford castle where in 1309 four Templars from Temple Dinsley near Hitchen were imprisoned after their arrest by Edward II, who believed that they were holding a lost treasure. The treasure was never found. When Subterranean Britannica, a group of amateur archaeologists, expressed an interest in investigating Hertford's tunnels last month they received anonymous threats telling them not to.

"In Rome, a Vatican spokesman said that the demand for apology would be given "serious consideration". However, Vatican insiders said that the Pope 84, was under pressure from conservatives cardinals to stop "stop saying sorry" for errors in the past"

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