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UPDATED 9/23/08 4:52 p.m. 

Many people know Bob Schaffer as a U.S. Senate candidate and former Congressman, but not many know about his other position: Catholic knight.

For the past 12 years, Schaffer has been a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a 900-year-old Catholic chivalric order that conducts charitable work in the Middle East.

But while Schaffer has the ceremonial cape and beret of the Order, he's had little time to be involved with the group in recent years.

Schaffer was named to the Order by Pope John Paul II in 1996, after being nominated by then-Archbishop J. Francis Stafford, according to the Denver Catholic Register.

About 700-800 Americans a year are admitted to the Order, according to Edward Sweeney, a volunteer with the Order's Northern Lieutenancy, an eight-state region that includes Colorado.

The Order was founded during the First Crusade in 1099, when European forces marched on the Holy Land with "a detailed desire to free the empty Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem from the grasp of the unbelieving infidels," according to the Order's Web site. The Holy Sepulchre is traditionally considered the site where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried.

After a bloody victory, a cordon of knights was placed around the Holy Sepulchre to guard and pray at it - from this, the Order "inherited our solemn duty to help keep the Christian faith alive and well in the land of Our Lord," according to the Order's Web site.

Today, though, the Order's goal isn't Holy War but to raise money for charitable projects in Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

According to the Order's Southwestern Lieutenancy Web site, the group has financed more than $4.1 million projects in 2008 alone, from renovating churches and schools to building a new maternity center in East Jerusalem.

Asked if Schaffer attended the Order's annual ceremony or helped raise money, Schaffer laughed.

"Raise money? I write checks," he said.

Schaffer said he's not had much time to be involved with the group in recent years, as he's been focused on his business and more recently, his U.S. Senate campaign.

"My schedule in the last few years has regrettably made it impossible for me to be as vigilant as I could be and I'd like to be (with the group)," he said.

Asked if he had the group's ceremonial cape and beret in his closet, Schaffer laughed.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "What's that mean -- I gotta wear it to a meeting or something?"

However, in 1997 Schaffer was awarded the Pilgrim Shell, considered the "choicest decoration of the Order," according to the Order's Web site.

Schaffer was awarded the Pilgrim Shell in Jerusalem; the award is given to any member of the Order who makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and prays at the Holy Sepulchre of our Risen Lord, according to the Order's Web site.

A lifelong Catholic, Schaffer received the Benemerenti Medal from Pope John Paul II in 2002 for "distinguished service to Catholic principles, the Church and society," according to the Denver Catholic Register. He's also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Schaffer and his family attend St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins.