The Vatican disavows unrecognized orders of chivalry and their investitures in churches

The Secretariat of State of the Holy See has recalled that it only recognizes seven equestrian orders and considers it improper to lend churches and chapels for the so-called “investiture ceremonies” of all the others. The clarification, released by the Press Office bulletin, states that the Holy See attributes “no value whatsoever” to the diplomas and insignia of knighthood issued by organizations it does not recognize, and justifies the note by the need to curb abuses that harm people of good faith.

The list is brief and admits no interpretations. The Holy See has five of its own orders: the Supreme Order of Christ, the Order of the Golden Spur, the Pian Order, the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and the Order of St. Sylvester Pope. To these it adds two that it recognizes and protects: the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, known as the Order of Malta, and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The text adds that the Holy See has no intention of introducing novelties in this matter.

Outside that perimeter, the note leaves no loophole. The other orders, both those of new creation and those presented as heirs of medieval orders, are not recognized by the Holy See, which cannot guarantee their historical and juridical legitimacy, their purposes, or their organization. From this follow the two practical consequences of the communiqué: the titles and decorations they distribute lack any value in the eyes of Rome, and their investiture ceremonies should not be held in sacred places.

The Secretariat of State explains that it is publishing the clarification following numerous requests for information about the Holy See’s stance toward equestrian orders dedicated to saints or bearing sacred titles. Its declared purpose is to avoid misunderstandings which, as the text itself acknowledges, are unfortunately possible “also because of the illicit issuance of documents and the improper use of sacred places”, and to prevent such abuses from continuing.

This is not the first time Rome has had to say so. The note itself states that it reiterates what was already published in the past, and the Order of Malta keeps on its website the clarification issued by the Secretariat of State on 17 October 2012 in practically identical terms: recognition of the same seven orders, no value for the diplomas and insignia of the others, and rejection of the use of churches for their ceremonies. That fourteen years later the warning must be repeated indicates that the phenomenon has not disappeared.

Self-styled orders have proliferated for decades with names of historical resonance, uniforms, capes, and knightly dubbing rites that imitate those of ancient orders, and not infrequently they rely on the presence of a priest and the setting of a church to give an ecclesial appearance to their acts. In 2023, an association presenting itself as heir to the Templars even filed a conciliation claim against Pope Francis demanding the rehabilitation of the order, suppressed in 1312. For anyone who pays a fee or a ceremony believing they are receiving a distinction recognized by the Church, the communiqué is a direct warning.

The note does not name any specific organization, does not refer to any country, and does not foresee sanctions. It merely sets a criterion that reaches the faithful who allow themselves to be invested, but above all those who hold the keys to the temples: the rectors of churches and the bishops who authorize such ceremonies are warned that the Holy See considers them inappropriate.

The distinction between the seven recognized orders and the rest is not a matter of prestige. The pontifical orders are decorations granted by the Pope; the Order of the Holy Sepulchre depends directly on the Holy See; and the Order of Malta maintains a singular relationship with it, with a cardinal patron appointed by the Pontiff. None of the others can invoke Rome’s backing, however ancient the name they claim.

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