Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See of the Catholic Church by his authority as head of the Holy See and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Historically, membership in these orders was either conferred by Papal bulls not signed by the Pope or by apostolic letters signed by the Pope himself. Since the reforms of these orders in the beginning of the 20th century, the diplomas have been signed by the Cardinal Secretary of State. In general, "Papal orders of knighthood" refers to the five equestrian orders of the Holy See awarded directly by the Supreme Pontiff as head of the Catholic Church, Holy See and
Legal status of the Holy See was clarified as the result of the Treaty of 11 February 1929, between the Holy See and Italy - the so called Lateran Treaty. (...) The Lateran Treaty marks the resumption of the formal membership, interrupted in 1871, of the Holy See in the society of states." Oppenheim goes further and denies a separate legal personality for the Vatican City State. For him, the composite of the Holy See plus the Vatican City constitutes just one international person; "see" p. 328: Kunz sharply criticized this view. For him: A separate question is whether the Holy See was a subject of