The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (Latin: Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; Italian: Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope.
The order is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See. The honor is bestowed upon Catholic men and women (and certain notable non-Catholics) in recognition of their personal service to the Holy See and to the Catholic Church, through their unusual labors, their support of the Holy See, and the examples they set in their communities and their countries.
The Order of Saint Gregory the Great is the most recognizable of the papal awards and the most frequently granted to lay persons based on their merits.
Based on the Acta Apostolica Sedis, 4177 persons have received (globally) a pontifical knighthood between 2000 and 2020 (the UK had 181 recipients and France 170). From the awardees of papal knighthood, the recipients of the Order of Saint Gregory are the most numerous .
The criteria for the conferment of the Order of Saint Gregory
The constitutional pontifical norms of the Order of Saint Gregory are the following : Quod summis quibusque (1 September 1831), Cum amplissima honorum (20 March 1834), and Multum ad excitandos (7 February 1905).
The inaugural brief states, in part, that "gentlemen of proven loyalty to the Holy See who, by reason of their nobility of birth and the renown of their deeds or the degree of their munificence, are deemed worthy to be honored by a public expression of esteem on the part of the Holy See". The end of the brief states that they must progressively maintain, by continued meritorious deed, the reputation and trust they had already inspired, and prove themselves worthy of the honor that had been conferred on them, by unswerving fidelity to God and to the sovereign Pontiff.
The instruction on the conferral of Papal Honours issued by the Secretariat of State of the Holy See , provides a description of the general principles common to all the papal orders:
- they are only addressed to lay people, including men and women, Catholic or not, and excluding the Clergy (they have their own honours’ system).
- The awards are provided as a “mark of appreciation and recognition of services given” by the recipients to the Church.
- They are granted on an “incremental basis” with defined requirements on the age of the candidates.
- The application needs to be duly documented to establish the merits of the candidate.
- Finally, the number of awardees are limited per diocese on a yearly basis.
The instruction provides detailed information on the minimum age to received such an award (40 years old for a knight, 45 years old for a commander, …). The instruction also provide details on specific categories of persons belonging to the laity: police, military (the order being granted as from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel), diplomats accredited to the Holy See (as from the rank of Attaché or secretary), and staff working with the Roman curia (as from the rank of Addetti di Segreteria).
The awarding of the Order of St. Gregory the Great presents no particular obligations on the recipients toward the Catholic Church – except for the general ones stated above.
How to receive a pontifical award
Admission is never achieved through personal application. The conferral can be made directly by the Pope, at his own initiative and following his own choice. This would be the exception. In principle, the granting of an order is always the result of a “presentation”. Indeed, the candidate is presented or sponsored by a responsible authority.
The presentation will be made by the bishop in whose diocese the candidate is resident. The instruction indicates that it can also be the Vicar General who can make a proposal provided he has an authorisation from his bishop to do so.