Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See recognition from the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See's Secretariat of State issued a statement clarifying that "other than its own Equestrian Orders... the Holy See recognises and supports only the Sovereign Military Order of Malta... and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre". All other self-styled chivalric orders, the statement continued, "whether of recent origin or mediaeval foundation, are not recognised by the Holy See" and "the Holy See does not guarantee their historical or juridical legitimacy, their ends or organisational structures... to prevent the continuation of abuses which may result in harm to people of good faith, the
Foreign relations of the Holy See 27) in the period between 1871 and 1929. The Holy See currently has diplomatic relations with sovereign states (including the partially internationally recognized Republic of China) and in addition with the sovereign entity Order of Malta and the supranational union European Union. The Holy See also has established official diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine. By agreement with the government of Vietnam, it has a non-resident papal representative to that country. It has official formal contacts, without establishing diplomatic relations, with: Afghanistan, Brunei, Somalia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. The Holy See additionally maintains some apostolic delegates to local Catholic