Any discussion of the nature and role of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta can only be considered in view of a realistic definition of what the Order is and is not.

What the Order is: Founded circa 1100 as the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, the Order is the world's oldest continuously-operative medical aid service ("hospitaller") institution, and also the oldest continuously-existing order of chivalry. True, it is a sovereign entity (a "micro-state") having diplomatic relations with a hundred countries, but today it is also the second-largest international medical aid and relief organisation not sponsored by a major national government (i.e. it is recognised by the United Nations as an observer and NGO) or directly by the United Nations (for example, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF). While the Order is a Roman Catholic organisation, as reflected in the spirituality and ethos of its members, its works are directed toward the sick and needy around the world regardless of religion. Our emergency aid arm, which is just one part of the Order, is Malteser International. Reports of the Order's international activities, as well as its financial accounting (verified annually by outside auditors), are made available to the public through the Grand Magistry in Rome.

What the Order is not: Although the comportment of its knights and dames is presumed to conform to Christian values and culture, the Order of Malta is not exclusively a religious institution per se (as, for example, the Benedictines or Jesuits) but a predominantly lay organisation which includes as chaplains some Catholic clergy ordained outside the Order and, as a religious order, a small number of knights who have chosen, through solemn religious vows, to live a monastic life --but not, by virtue of those vows, accepting holy orders (ordination). In other words, these professed knights are monks rather than priests. In addition to these "knight-monks," other knights (and dames) "of obedience" take less restrictive vows. While the history and traditions of the Order reflect certain military origins rooted in the Middle Ages, it is not today an actively military institution in anything but name, nor is it connected with any. The Order is not, strictly speaking, a human rights advocacy organisation but a medical relief and hospitaller service composed of tens of thousands of medical professionals and volunteers working daily to meet the needs of "our lords the sick" in over a hundred countries. The Order of Malta has no political scope or interest.

The Order is administered by a sovereign government which issues its own postage stamps, passports and coins, and makes its own foreign policy. With associations in forty six nations, the Order of Malta supports hospitaller works on every continent. Its chief executive, the Prince and Grand Master, is styled His Most Eminent Highness. He is accorded the ecclesiastical precedence of a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, with the diplomatic honours due to a sovereign head of state and, once elected, serves for life. Like several dozen of the Order's knights, the Grand Master is a monk who has taken solemn religious vows, though he doesn't live in a monastery but in the Grand Magistry, the Order's headquarters in the centre of Rome.

Having extraterritorial sovereignty over a few buildings in Italy, the Order of Malta is arguably the world's smallest state, though it is not usually considered a nation per se. Its flag, displaying the white Cross of Malta on a red field, is one of the world's oldest vexillogical devices still in use. With the exception of the Vatican, the Order of Malta is perhaps the world's oldest continuous government and smallest electoral monarchy. Matthew Festing, an Englishman, is the seventy-ninth in a succession of grand masters spanning nine centuries. He succeeds another Englishman, the late, fondly-remembered Andrew Bertie.

The knights and dames of Malta, over twelve thousand strong, are the successors to the knights who fought in Palestine during the Crusades and --more importantly-- cared for the poor and sick in times of adversity. Conscious of their heritage and duty, today's knights and dames of Malta represent a dynamic Christian force prepared to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

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