The Order of Malta is a Religious Order founded by a Papal Bull of Pope Pascal II in 1113 as the Order of St. john of Jerusalem, led by the Knights of Justice who are professed Friars, and the Grand Master who holds the precedence of a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and is inspired by the devotion of the Knights and Dames of Malta at the Masses of the Order of Malta, and in the Defense of the Faith and the care of the sick and the poor. Throughout the nine hundred years as a Religious Order, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta has been blessed by our Patron Saint John the Baptist and by the Saints and the Blessed Knights and Chaplains of the Order of Malta.

In the 900 year tradition of the Sovereign Order of Malta, HMEH Fra Mathew Festing is the 79th Grand Master in the succession from the Founder and first Grand Master Blessed Gerard in 1099 formalized by a Papal Bull of Pope Pascal II in 1113. The 78th Grand Master HMEH Fra Andrew Bertie confirmed in the 2007 Annual Report of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. john of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, "We are Hospitallers first before anything else", as we have been for nine hundred years since the Knights of St John of Jerusalem joined the Hospital of our Founder Grand Master Blessed Gerard as Knights Hospitallers and Hospitallers of St- John of Jerusalem, who have continued to serve in the hospitals of the Sovereign Order of Malta and in the care of the sick and the poor to the present time.

With permanent presence in 55 countries, through the intermediary of 6 Grand Priories, 6 Sub-Priories and 47 National Associations, the Sovereign Order of Malta is dedicated to the care of the sick and the poor, by 13,000 Knights and Dames of Malta, 80,000 volunteers, and 15,000 doctors, nurses and health care professionals, in more than 200 hospitals, medical centers, emergency relief and ambulance corps that provide aid for at least seven million persons in 220 countries worldwide, significantly by Malteser International.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as it is known in the United Nations, is sovereign, having diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries in the world and is a Permanent observer in the United Nations, and is a member of its Special Agencies UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHCHR, UNIDO, IAEA, WHO and WFP, and it has delegations or representations to international organizations including the European Community, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Geneva, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome, the international Committee of Military Medicine (icmm) in Bruxelles, the International Federation of

Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, the International Organization for Migration (ICM) in Geneva, and the Union Latina in Santo Domingo and Paris, in which it is identified by the abbreviation SMOM and its Cross on Shield and its Coat of Arms. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta issues SMOM passports to expedite emergency relief worldwide.