In the 900 year tradition of the Sovereign Order of Malta, HMEH Fra Matthew 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 120 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. With the encouragement of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, over 1,800 Knights of Malta and Maltese sailors enlisted in the French Navy with the specific purpose of assisting the American Independence from the British. In 1783, Benjamin Franklin in his capacity as United States Ambassador to France, designed and had minted the first medal of the United States, entitled "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 its war of independence.
