an american society of the order of st. john was established in 1957 as a foundation to assist the order with charitable work, after 1961 focusing its efforts specifically on the st. john ophthalmic hospital in jerusalem and some other organizations aiding the sick. this branch was successful enough that queen elizabeth ii in 1996 officially created the priory of the united states of america, the seventh priory at the time, with john r. drexel as the first prior. by late 2000, the us priory had approximately 1,100 members. as citizens of a country that did not have the sovereignty of the order of st. john vested in its head of state, american inductees who first joined the new priory were specifically asked to only "pay due obedience" to the governing authorities of the order "in all things consistent with your duty to your own country," thus eliminating any question of loyalty to a foreign head of state superseding american postulants' duties as us citizens.