Supreme Order of Christ

Supreme Order of Christ Ordine Supremo del Cristo
Star and badge of the Order of Christ
Awarded by the  Holy See
Type	Papal order of knighthood
Established	1319
Eligibility	Catholic heads of state
Awarded for	Services to the Church
Status	Dormant order
Grand Master	Pope Francis
Grades	Knight
Precedence
Next (higher)	None (highest); clerics, such as theologians, philosophers, or diplomats, can be named Cardinals or Bishops for meritorious services to the Pope and the Holy See, without being given an actual office
Next (lower)	Order of the Golden Spur
Ribbon bar of the order

The Supreme Order of Christ (Italian: Ordine Supremo del Cristo) is the highest order of chivalry that can be awarded by the pope. No appointments have been made since 1987 and following the death in 1993 of the last remaining knight, King Baudouin of Belgium, the order became dormant.

According to some scholars, it owes its origin to the same Order of Christ of the Knights Templar, from which came the Order of Christ that was awarded by the kings of Portugal and the emperors of Brazil. The Portuguese order had originally both a secular and religious component; by the 18th century, the religious component had died out.

The papacy insisted that the right of the Portuguese monarchs to award the honour had been granted by a pope in the Papal bull Ad ea ex quibus issued in Avignon on 14–15 March 1319. Although the bull itself does not explicitly grant to the pope the right to grant membership in the order, successive popes since John XXII have done so.

For many years, the Portuguese monarchy disputed the right of the papacy to award the order, and in one famous case arrested Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, an Italian architect, for wearing the papal order. The position of the Crown of Portugal was that the only legitimate fount of honour was the Crown.^[1] The official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that the pope is the head of every Catholic religious order and may appoint any individual he deems worthy at his own discretion and without the permission of the order's superior general.^[2]

As part of the general re-organisation of papal honours in 1905 by Pope Pius X, the papal Order of Christ was made the most senior papal honour. It was traditionally awarded to Catholic heads of state.

The usage of the order was restricted by Pope Paul VI in his 15 April 1966 Papal Bull Equestres Ordinis to Catholic heads of state to whom it might be given only to commemorate very special occasions at which the pope himself was present. It has rarely been awarded since; the last award was made by Pope John Paul II on 3 July 1987 to Frà Angelo de Mojana, 77th prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.^[3][4] With the death of King Baudouin of Belgium on 31 July 1993, there are no living members of the Order of Christ.

In ecclesiastical heraldry, individuals awarded this order may depict a collar completely encircling the shield on their coat of arms.^[5]

• Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See
• Order of Christ (Brazil)
• Order of Christ (Portugal)

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Pontifical Decorations

• Media related to Supreme Order of Christ at Wikimedia Commons
• Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain