Rome, Italy, Jun 7, 2022 / 10:53 am
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta can be hard to define. The thousand-year-old entity is a Catholic religious order, medical aid organization, and international diplomatic entity all in one.
Present in 120 countries, with over 2,000 projects in the medical-social field, and more than 120,000 volunteers and medical staff, the order functions as an emergency relief organization in many developing areas and crisis zones.
The Order of Malta is headed by a Grand Master who oversees the order with the help of a body called the Sovereign Council. Those members are elected for five-year terms by the order’s General Chapter.
The rest of the organization’s members belong to three classes.