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Order of Malta

Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta
Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme di Rodi e di Malta  (Italian)
Supremus Ordo Militaris Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani Rhodius et Melitensis  (Latin)
Flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum" (Latin)
"Defence of the faith and assistance to the poor"
Anthem: Ave Crux Alba  (Latin)
Hail, thou White Cross
Capital Palazzo Malta
Via dei Condotti 68
Rome, Italy
Official languages Italian
Government
sede vacante
Lieutenant ad Interim Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein
Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein
Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager
Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel
Sovereign subject of international law
• Establishment of the Knights Hospitaller,
Kingdom of Jerusalem
Ca 1099 by Blessed Gerard
1113 by Pope Paschal II
• Cyprus
1291–1310
• Rhodes
1310–1523
• Malta
1530–1798
• Exile to Rome
1834–
Population
• Estimate
3 citizens
13,000 members
80,000 volunteers
Currency Maltese scudob
  1. "Lieutenant ad interim".
  2. Euro for postage stamps.

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (Latin: Supremus Ordo Militaris Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani Rhodius et Melitensis), also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) or Order of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order traditionally of military, chivalrous and noble nature. It was founded as the Knights Hospitaller circa 1099 in Jerusalem, Kingdom of Jerusalem, by the Blessed Gerard, making it the world's oldest surviving chivalric order. Headquartered in Palazzo Malta in Rome, widely considered a sovereign subject of international law, its mission is summed up in its motto: Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum, "Defence of the (Catholic) faith and assistance to the poor".

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is the present-day continuation of the medieval Knights Hospitaller, now based in Rome, with origins in the Fraternitas Hospitalaria hospital founded circa 1048 by merchants from the Duchy of Amalfi in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, Fatimid Caliphate, to provide medical care for pilgrims to the Holy Land. Following the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade and the loss of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to the Mamluk Sultanate, it became a military order to protect Christians against Islamic persecution and was recognised as sovereign in 1113 by Pope Paschal II. It operated from Cyprus (1291–1310), Rhodes (1310–1523), Malta (1530–1798), over which it was sovereign until the French occupation, and from Palazzo Malta in Rome from 1834 until the present, subsequently known under its current name. The order venerates as its patroness Mary, mother of Jesus, under the title "Our Lady of Mount Philermos".


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