As you all know the 24th of June is the day of St. John, the Patron of our Sovereign Order, and also the National Day of our State.

This year we also celebrate the first hundredth anniversary of the federative act of our Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem - Knights of Malta (KMFAP), as a legitimate and lawful descendent of the ancient Order of St. John, founded in Jerusalem during the 11th Century, and, on this occasion, We would like, in Our name, as Grand Master and Head of the State, and also on behalf of Our Lieutenant General and Prime Minister, to greet all the Knights and Dames who, with their commitment, their valuable work and support have allowed our Sovereign Order and State to continue growing and extending its humanitarian work to many countries.

In fact now we are bigger and stronger than ever before:

• The majority of Our more than 3.000 Knights, in about 60 different countries, are active and working committedly;
• We are now officially recognized as a Sovereign State by more than 10 Governments of Countries with whom we have permanent and regular Diplomatic Relations, at Ambassadorial level, in accordance with the Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations and recently our Sovereignty rights have also been recognized by a court of law of the European Union;

Our Femeraid International is very actively providing rescue, medical and humanitarian assistance in several countries and to major catastrophes, through a growing number of national Femeraid Units such as Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Angola, Italy, among other, and more national Units are being created in other countries.

The Femeraid International Institute for Studies of Sepsis in Africa, as well as the Department for Certification and Accreditation of Hospitals are now giving their first international steps.

Many thousands of Kilos of medicines and medical equipments have been given to populations in need in several countries, and many lives of critical patients have been saved in Africa;

• Our Pro Deo State University - totally renewed and with a new structure, new and selected professors and new courses - is establishing a growing number of cooperation agreements with other large and highly reputed universities in Europe, Africa and in the American continent and has started new high quality courses in different countries in accordance with the international standards for accreditation and with the national legislations of thoser countries;
• Our international Foundation is preparing its first actions;
• Our Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Services will very soon be ready to start its activity;
• After centuries of interruption, we have recovered one of our oldest Sovereignty rights and issued our own historical currency the Zecchini ( metal league coins) and the Tari ( sterling silver coins );
• In the structure of our Sovereign Order, new Grand Priories, Priories and National Bailiwicks have been created;
• Our State Guard, State Police for protection of high entities and Ceremonial Horse Guard, based on our federated Order of Cyprus, are providing an excellent service of escort to our Ceremonies and also to our convoys of humanitarian support in several countries;
• Presently the Ecumenical Council of KMFAP counts on very respected and high level religious members and prelates, and represents the most significant Religions and Churches;
• The Identity Cards of our State are now being regularly issued every year.

These is only a short summary of recent accomplishments, but all of them have only been possible, thanks to the devoted work, support and commitment of all of you, dear Knights and Dames.

Therefore, on our National Day, We want to express Our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of you, because we continue being, as we have been in our glorious past, a Team, and our actions are the result of a strong team work.

May God Bless you all.
HEH Jose, Prince
Grand Master and Head of the State

23th June 2010