Knights, guilds and lay societies
Papal Orders of Knighthood (Order of St. Gregory the Great, Order of St. Sylvester, Order of Pope Pius IX)
Pontifical orders of knighthood · Papal knighthood · KSG · DSG · Pian Order · Order of the Golden Spur · Supreme Order of Christ · Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great
Founded 1831Orders of knighthood of the Holy See itself, conferred personally by the Pope as the source of honour. There are five: the Supreme Order of Christ, the Order of the Golden Spur, the Pian Order (Order of Pope Pius IX, 1847), the Order of St. Gregory the Great (1831), and the Order of St. Sylvester (1841, reformed 1905). Pontifical orders are personal gifts of the Pope, not awards of the Vatican City State.
By invitation
Papal appointment. No alms are asked.
This one comes by invitation. Members are proposed from within the order and confirmed by it, so the warmest way in is simply to become known to the people already there.
There is no join page and nothing to submit, because admission is never by personal application; the only real route is that your own diocesan bishop decides to present your name to the Nuncio and the Secretariat of State.
Members have a portal to sign in to.
This is an honour, not a club, and the single most important thing to understand is that you cannot apply for it. Admission, in the Secretariat of State's own instruction, is never achieved through personal application. In practice the diocesan bishop where you live presents your name, with a curriculum vitae and a description of your worthiness in the eyes of the Church; the file goes to the Apostolic Nuncio who issues a nihil obstat; and the Cardinal Secretary of State accepts it and signs the papal brief. Some dioceses run honours committees to advise the bishop. The Pope can also confer directly on his own initiative, but that is the exception. The Order of St. Gregory the Great is the one most often given to lay people for service to the Church, and there are minimum ages (40 for a knight, 45 for a commander). Recipients get a brief, a medal and a rosette, and the right to wear them on limited occasions. The honour carries no dues, no meetings, and no ongoing obligations beyond continued fidelity, and it dies with the individual.
What you promise
None in the membership sense. No dues, meetings, degrees, or service quotas. The orders are addressed to lay people only, including non-Catholics, and exclude clergy, who have their own honours. There is an understood duty to go on serving the Church and to attend major diocesan events, and recipients supply or receive the rosette through the bishop or applicant rather than from the Secretariat. The number of awards is capped per diocese each year.
What the Church attaches
No indulgences, no chaplaincy, no required devotions. What the honour confers is a formal bond with the Holy See, ceremonial recognition at diocesan and Vatican events (papal knights are saluted by the Swiss Guard when wearing their insignia at the Vatican), and in some countries the right to use post-nominal letters such as KSG or DSG. There is no permanent published roll; the only record is publication in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and the bestowal takes effect once gazetted there.
Enrollment checked 2026-10-22. Details change without notice and parish practice varies. Confirm before relying on this sheet.