No appointments have been made since 1987 and following the death in 1993 of the last remaining knight, King Baudouin of Belgium, the order became dormant.

The papacy insisted that the right of the Portuguese monarchs to award the honour had been granted by a pope in the Papal bull Ad ea ex quibus issued in Avignon on 14–15 March 1319.

It has rarely been awarded since; the last award was made by Pope John Paul II on 3 July 1987 to Frà Angelo de Mojana, 77th prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

[3][4] With the death of King Baudouin of Belgium on 31 July 1993, there are no living members of the Order of Christ.

In ecclesiastical heraldry, individuals awarded this order may depict a collar completely encircling the shield on their coat of arms.