The official opening was a lecture on "900th years of Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John".

The lecture was delivered by the Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to Bulgaria, H.E. Camillo Zuccoli. He expressed his gratitude to Sofia University Cultural Centre and noted that the archives and the library of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Rome signed a Cooperation Agreement with Sofia University in 2009. The event is part of this cooperation.

The celebration included also the official opening of the exhibition "900 years: traditionally modern" which offers archive materials on the history of the Order and its missions around the globe. The exhibition is available until 29th March, 2013.

The celebrations are organized by the Sovereign Order of Malta Embassy in Bulgaria and Sofia University Cultural Centre.

Founded in Jerusalem about 1050 CE as an Amalfitan hospital, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta was granted its sovereignty by the Papal bull Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, issued by Pope Paschal II on15th, February 1113.

In its modern history, the Sovereign Order of Malta has been focused on humanitarian missions – the Order had such missions in Bulgaria during the two world wars and then again in the 90s. Since opening its own embassy in Sofia in 2005, the order has carried out more than 200 charity projects of various nature in over 80 towns and villages around the country.