Presentation
Today this 900-year old institution :
- provides humanitarian assistance and carries out charitable work in over 120 countries worldwide,
- is present in 60 countries through its own structures,
- has twelve thousand members on all continents,
- relies on several hundred thousand volunteers and some one million donors and supporters,
- is independent, neutral, impartial and non-political,
- has a central Government in Rome with its own constitution, passports, stamps, coins and public institutions,
- maintains diplomatic relations with 100 States under international law,
- enjoys the status of Permanent Observer to the United Nations and its main agencies and has missions to European and international organizations.
