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 12,500 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 103 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.