The Order of Malta

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. The Order has always been led by the Knights of Justice, or professed Friars, and the Grand Master who holds the precedence of a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout its nine-hundred year history the guiding principles of the Order "Tuitio fidei et obsequeum pauperem" (to defend the faith and serve the poor) – have never changed.

Elected in 2008, His Most Eminent Highness, Fra’ Matthew Festing is the 79th Grand Master of the Order. He is in direct succession from the founder and first Grand Master of the Order, Blessed Fra’ Gerard (1099).

With a presence in fifty-five countries—through six Grand Priories, six Sub-Priories and forty-seven National Associations— the Sovereign Order of Malta is dedicated to the care of the sick and the poor. The mission of the Order is carried out through the efforts of 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 an ambulance corps that provide aid for at least seven million people in 120 countries worldwide, most significantly through Malteser International.

With the encouragement of the officials of the Order in Rome over 1,800 Knights of Malta and Maltese sailors enlisted in the French Navy with the specific purpose of assisting the American Independence from Great Britain. In 1783, Benjamin Franklin, then the United States Ambassador to France, designed and had minted the first medal of the United States, the "Libertas Americana." This medal was presented to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta by Benjamin Franklin in recognition of its assistance to the United States in the Revolutionary War.

The origins of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the United States date back to 1927 in New York City with the founding of the American Association. By the 1950's, the membership had grown so geographically diverse that the Sovereign Council established the Western Association in San Francisco to encompass the nine western states, Alaska, and Hawaii. The Order continued to increase in membership over the next twenty years and, in 1974, the Sovereign Council approved the formation of the Southern Association—which is known today as the Federal Association, U.S.A. The Federal Association is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and today its members are found in over twenty regions nationwide.