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Territory:
0,439 km2 (about 44
ha; 108,5 acres)
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Coordinates:
lat. 42° N; long. 12° E
Saint Peter's Square is at 19
meters above sea level and the
highest part of the Vatican Gardens
is at 77 meters.
The territory covers a maximum
length of 1,045 meters and width of
850 meters.
Enclave in
the City of Rome.
The State of Vatican City covers
an area extending from a short
distance from the right bank of the
Tiber and includes a slight
elevation, of what was anciently
known as the Vatican Hill, the old Ager
Vaticanus on which summer villas
were built during the republican
period. Caligula constructed
there his private circus, in which,
as in the adjacent gardens, the
early Christians would seem te have
been martyred. To the north of
the circus, along a secondary route,
there was a necropolis in which
Saint Peter was buried.
Between the years 324 and 326
Constantine erected over the place
of the tomb of the first Pope, an
imposing basilica which was replaced
by the actual one built between the
16th and the 17th century.
The entire territory of the State
of Vatican City is placed under the
protection of the La Haye Convention
of 14 May 1954, concerning the
safeguard of cultural goods in case
of armed conflict. The Vatican
City is thus recognized - and this
is so also in international
discipline - as a moral, artistic
and cultural patrimony worthy of
being respected and protected as a
treasure belonging to
humanity. From 1984 the State
of Vatican City is registered in the
World Heritage List.
There exist some minor areas
outside State territory and located
within Italy which enjoy
extraterritorial rights, such as the
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore,
San Giovanni in Laterano and San
Paolo fuori le Mura, with adjacent
buildings; some palaces and Roman
villas which house pontifical
administrations; the villas and
Palace of Castel Gandolfo, which is
the summer residence of the Pope;
the area located in Cesano (Santa
Maria di Galeria) at about 25 km
from Rome
[Italian].
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State
structure
and Diplomatic
Relations
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The expression Holy See
refers to the supreme Authority of
the Church, and thus the Pope as
Bishop of Rome and head of the
College of Bishops. Defines
therefore the Central Government of
the Catholic Church. As such,
the Holy See is an institution
which, according to the
international laws and customs, has
a juridical personality which
permits it to sign treaties and to
send and receive diplomatic
representatives, as juridical
equivalent of a state.
The State
of Vatican City came into
existence with the Lateran Treaty
between the Holy See and the Kingdom
of Italy
on 11
February 1929 and ratified on 7 June
1929, by which Italy recognized the
full property rights and exclusive
sovereignty on the Vatican as it is
made up at present
. It is a very small
territorial entity, with the purpose
of making it possible for the Pope
to exercise freely his Ministry of
governing the universal Church
.
The State
of Vatican City and the Holy See,
both sovereign subjects of
international public law
, universally recognized
, are
indissolubly united in the person of
the Supreme Pontiff, as Head of
State
, who possesses full legislative,
judicial and executive powers.
In periods of "Sede
Vacante" (Vacancy of the
Apostolic See), these powers belong
to the College of Cardinals.
The Supreme
Pontiff governs the State through
the Pontifical Commission for the
State of Vatican City
(legislative power; composed of
cardinals, nominated by him for a 5
year period) and the Governatorate
of the State of Vatican City
(executive power). The
legislative regulations are
published in a special supplement of
the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
The
judicial power is exercised, in the
name of the Supreme Pontiff, by the
constituted organs according to the
juridical structure of the State: a
Magistrate, a Court of First
Instance, a Court of Appeal and a
Court of Cassation.
The Supreme
Pontiff represents, through the Secretariat
of State, the State of Vatican
City in relations with foreign
States, for the conclusion of
Treaties and for diplomatic
relations.
Between 1870 and 1929, when the
State of Vatican City did not exist,
the Holy See maintained diplomatic
relations with many States.
Diplomatic envoys to the Holy See,
with a certain stable character, are
found since the end of the XV
century. In the XVI century
the constitution of permanent
representations began.
The Holy
See, besides the active right of
diplomatic representation (the Apostolic
Nuncio is a pontifical
Representative, who covers the
permanent function of representation
of the Roman Pontiff with States and
with the local ecclesiastical
hierarchy), exercises the passive
right, which means that it receives
Representatives sent by States in
extraordinary and temporary mission
or ordinary and permanent mission.
Both the
State of Vatican City and the Holy
See, as the sovereign organ of the
Catholic Church, have obtained an
ever growing recognition of their
distinct international
character. They are members of
international organizations and
participate in international
conferences according to the
relative agreements.
Bilateral
and multilateral diplomatic
relations
[English,
French,
Italian]
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Fundamental
Law of the State of Vatican City
of 26.11.2000
[German,
Italian,
Portuguese] |
Head of State:
His
Holiness Benedict XVI, 265th
Pontiff, born as Joseph Ratzinger
in Marktl am Inn, diocese of Passau (Federal Republic of
Germany) on 16 April 1927.
[English,
French,
German,
Italian,
Portuguese,
Spanish]
Beginning
of the Pontificate: 2005
19 April:
Anniversary of the Election of His Holiness Benedict XVI
24
April:
Anniversary of the beginning of the
Petrine Ministry of His Holiness Benedict XVI
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Statistical
information on the Pontificate of Benedict XVI
[English,
Italian] |
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Secretary
of State:
Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B.
[English,
Italian]
, from 15 September 2006.
Profile
of the Secretariat of State
[English,
French,
German,
Italian,
Polish,
Portuguese,
Spanish] |
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President
of the Pontifical Commission for the
State of Vatican City and the
Governatorate of the State of
Vatican City
: Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo
[English,
Italian]
, from 15 September 2006.
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The Supreme
Pontiff is elected by cardinals who
are not yet 80 years old, united in
a conclave
, according to the rules set by
the Apostolic Constitution
Universi
Dominici gregis
[English,
French,
German,
Italian,
Portuguese,
Spanish]
of John
Paul II, dated 22 February 1996
, concerning the Vacancy of the
Apostolic See and the Election of
the Roman Pontiff.
The College
of cardinals
[English, French,
German, Italian,
Portuguese, Spanish]
is made up of 3 ranks (episcopal,
presbyterial and diaconal) and is
composed of cardinals who are freely
selected by the Pope and who are at
least clerics having received the
presbyterate.
The Deacon, who is the
cardinal
bishop of the Suburbicarian Church
of Ostia, presides the College of
cardinals:
Cardinal
Angelo Sodano [English,
Italian], from 30
April 2005.
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The Roman
Curia consists of institutions
which assist the Holy Father in the
government of the Church: Secretariat
of State (divided into Section
of General Affairs and Section for
the Relations with the States);
Congregations (for
the Doctrine of the Faith, for
Oriental Churches, for
Divine Worship and Discipline of the
Sacraments, for
the Causes of Saints, for
Bishops, for
the Evangelization of Peoples, for
the Clergy, for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life, for
Catholic Education); Pontifical
Councils (for
the Laity, for
Promoting Christian Unity, for
the Family, for
Justice and Peace, "Cor
Unum", for
the Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant People, for
the Pastoral Assistance of Health
Care Workers, for
Legislative Texts, for
Inter-religious Dialogue, for
Culture, for
Social Communications);
Tribunals (Apostolic Penitentiary,
Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic
Signature, Roman Rota); Offices
(Apostolic Chamber,
Administration of the Patrimony of
the Apostolic See, Prefecture of the
Economic Affairs of the Holy See);
Other
Institutions of the Roman Curia
(Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, Office
of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, Holy
See Press Office, Central
Statistics Office of the Church);
Pontifical Commissions (for
the Cultural Heritage of the Church,
for
Sacred Archeology, Biblical,
for the Revision and the Emendation
of the Vulgate, "Ecclesia
Dei"); Pontifical
Committees and the Commissions of
Cardinals;
Institutions
connected with the Holy See (Vatican
Secret Archives, Vatican
Apostolic Library, Vatican
Typography, L'Osservatore
Romano, Vatican
Publishing House (Libreria Editrice
Vaticana), Radio
Vatican, Vatican
Television Center, Fabric of
Saint Peter's, Office of Papal
Charities), Labor
Office of the Apostolic See,
Pontifical Administrations and
Delegations.
Statistics of the Catholic Church
in de World
[Italian]
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The Papal Military Corps, with
the exception of the Swiss Guards,
were disbanded on 14 September 1970
under the Pontificate of Paul VI.
The internal security of the
State of Vatican City is taken care
of by:
Gendarmerie of the State of
Vatican City
[Italian]
Pontifical Swiss Guard
[Italian]
The external security of the
State of Vatican City is taken care
of by the
Inspectorate of Public Security
to the Vatican (Italian State).
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Acquisition and loss of
citizenship, authorization to reside
in the State of Vatican City and
formalities to enter, are set out in
the Law N. III of 7 June 1929, on
citizenship and residence, and in
the Regulation N. XXXVI of 27
September 1932, for entrance to
Vatican City.
Vatican
citizenship
[English, French,
Italian, Spanish]
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The State of Vatican City mints
its own coins and issues its own
postage stamps
[Italian]
Monetary unit:
euro of the Vatican, at parity with the
unified European currency in circulation
from 1 January 2002.
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Coat
of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI
- Flag, Coat
of Arms and Seal of the Holy See and
the State of Vatican City
[French,
English,
Italian,
Spanish] |
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Pontifical Hymn
[Plurilingual]
- Text - Historical notes -
Score for musical band,
transcription for orchestra and
reduction for piano and choir -
Music file in format MIDI
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Heliport
Railroad Station
[Italian]
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International
automobile sign: V/VA
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International
postal code: SCV-00120
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International
telephone prefix: +39-06
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Time zone:
OEC
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International
Organization for Standardization
(DIN Berlin) ISO 3166 COUNTRY CODE
of the State of Vatican City (Holy
See):
VA-VAT-336
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Link to the Web site of
the Holy See: www.vatican.va
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Domain: VA
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