More than 160 million Americans hold a valid passport, making it one of the most widespread travel documents in existence. But at the other end of the spectrum lies a passport of remarkable rarity: one granted to only 500 individuals worldwide.
Unlike national passports, this extraordinary document is issued by a sovereign religious order with a legacy stretching back nearly a millennium, placing it among the most exclusive and historically intriguing credentials in circulation.
Click through the gallery to learn more about the world’s rarest passport, and discover the centuries of history, power, and mystery carried within its pages.