Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See include titles, chivalric orders, distinctions and medals honoured by the Holy See, with the Pope as the fount of honour, for deeds and merits of their recipients to the benefit of the Holy See, the Catholic Church, or their respective communities, societies, nations and the world at large. Some of these honours are defunct or currently dormant, while some are still actively conferred. "Papal orders of knighthood" or "Pontifical orders of knighthood" are orders of knighthood bestowed in the name of the Pope
Multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See excludes all possibilities of recourse and restoration in the event of a miscarriage of justice. Consequently, the Holy See worked for the adoption of a UN moratorium on the death penalty. Following Vatican Council II, the Holy See has uphold, at the international level, the centrality of the freedom of conscience and religion among all Human Rights since, in its view, those freedoms impinge on essence of the Human person. Pope Benedict XVI noted that "religious freedom expresses what is unique about the human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to God, in whose