Supreme Order of Christ - Made Senior Papal Order in 1905

Made Senior Papal Order in 1905

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 senior Catholic heads of state, notably Éamon de Valera as President of Ireland by Pope John XXIII. Controversially Popes Pius XII and John XXIII had refused to award the honour to his predecessor, Seán T. O'Kelly to the fury of the Irish government. It was suggested to the Irish that usage of the Order was being phased out and that O'Kelly would be awarded a new level within the Pian Order of Pius IX, which from then on would be the Order given to heads of state. The Irish were however deeply unhappy at what they saw as a snub to their religious President O'Kelly. They suspected that the snub was revenge for his inadvertent causing of a diplomatic incident between Pope Pius XII and Joseph Stalin in 1950, when he revealed Pius's private belief that communism was likely to collapse and his views on Stalin, during a press conference after a papal audience. While a new level within the Pian Order was created and issued, the Order of Christ continued to be issued to other heads of state, including O'Kelly's own successor, de Valera.