Vatican City
â€" formally
State of the Vatican City, or
Vatican City State (
Italian:
Stato della Città del Vaticano,
Latin:
Status Civitatis Vaticanae) â€" is a
sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a landlocked, almost completely walled,
enclave within the city of
Rome, Italy. The entire state is about 44
hectares (108.7
acres) and thus is a
European microstate. It is the smallest independent nation in the world created in 1929 by the
Lateran treaties and a vestige of the much larger former
Papal States (A.D. 756 to A.D. 1870). Since it is governed by the
Bishop of Rome (the
Pope), its government can be described as ecclesiastical and the highest state functionaries are in fact clergymen. It is the sovereign territory of the
Holy See (
LatinSancta Sedes) and the location of the
Apostolic Palace â€" the Pope's official residence â€" and the
Roman Curia. Thus, although the principal ecclesiastical seat of the Holy See (
Basilica of St. John Lateran) is located in Rome itself, the Vatican City can be said to be the governmental capital of the
Catholic Church.
The name Vatican is ancient and predates
Christianity, coming from the Latin
Mons Vaticanus,
Vatican Hill. It is part of the
Mons Vaticanus, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields where
St. Peter's Basilica, the
Apostolic Palace, the
Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area until
1929 was part of the Roman
rione of
Borgo. Being separated from the city by the river
Tiber, it was an outcrop of the city which was protected by being included by the walls of
Leo IV. When the 1929
Lateran treaties that gave the state its present form were being prepared, the fact that a good part of the proposed territory was all but enclosed by this loop led to the present territorial definition being adopted. For some tracts of the frontier there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed. The territory included
St. Peter's Square, which was not possible to isolate from the rest of Rome, and therefore a largely imaginary border with Italy runs along the outer limit of the square where it touches on Piazza Pio XII and Via Paolo VI. St. Peter's Square is reached through the Via della Conciliazione connecting it with Rome via the Ponte Sant Angelo. This grand approach was constructed by Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaties.
Although technically not included within the territory of the Vatican City State, according to the Lateran treaties, certain
properties of the Holy See enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign
embassies. These include the papal summer residence of
Castelgandolfo in the Alban hills, the
Lateran Basilica, the basilicas of
St. Mary Major and of
St. Paul Outside the Walls, and a number of other buildings in Rome. The Basilicas of St. Anthony in Padua and St. Francis in Assissi as well as the Holy House of Loretto are also Vatican properties. Castelgandolfo and the named basilicas are patrolled internally by police agents of the Vatican City State and not by Italian police. St. Peter's Square is ordinarily policed jointly by both.
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View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michaelangelo's dome. |
The
Head of State is the
Pope, who as the supreme executive, legislative, and judicial authority is also the
Head of Government. This is a non-hereditary
elective monarchy with a sovereign who exercises
absolute authority, that is to say supreme
legislative,
executive and
judicial power not only over Vatican City State but also constituting the
Holy See. This, in effect, makes the pope the last absolute European monarch. The sovereign is
elected for a life term in
conclave by
cardinals under the age of 80. His principal subordinate government officials are the
Secretary of State, the
President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, and the
Governor of Vatican City.
The
current Pope is
Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in
Germany.
Angelo Cardinal Sodano of
Italy is the
Secretary of State. Sodano will be succeeded in this position by
Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone effective September 15, 2006.
Edmund Cardinal Szoka serves as both the President of the Pontifical Commission and Governor, born an
American of
Polish descent. Szoka will be succeeded in this position by Archbishop
Giovanni Lajolo effective September 15, 2006.
Even before the arrival of
Christianity, it is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of
Rome (the
ager vaticanus) had long been considered sacred, or at least not available for habitation. The area was also the site of worship to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis during Roman times
[Altar of Cybele, Vatican Museum retreived 31 June 2006 ]. Agrippina the Elder drained the hill and environs and built her gardens there in the early 1st century AD. Caligula started construction of a circus in AD 40 that was later completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis[
1]. The Vatican obelisk was originally taken by Caligula from Heliopolis to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant. This area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the the great fire of Rome in AD 64. Ancient tradition holds that it was in this circus that St. Peter was crucified upside down. Opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Funeral monuments and mausoleums and small tombs as well as altars to pagan gods were constructed lasting until before the construction of the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter's. Remains of this ancient necropolis were brought to light sporadically during renovations by various popes throughout the centuries increasing in frequency during the Renaissance until it was systematically excavated by Pius XII.
In
326, the first church, the Constantinian basilica, was built over the site that later Catholic apologists argue was the tomb of
Saint Peter, buried in a common cemetery on the spot. From then on the area started to become more populated, but mostly only by dwelling houses connected with the activity of St. Peter's. A palace was constructed near the site of the basilica as early as the 5th century during the pontificate of
Pope Symmachus.
[ Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-2005].
Popes in their secular role gradually came to govern neighbouring regions and, through the
Papal States, ruled a large portion of the
Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid
19th century, when most of the territory of the Papal States was seized by the
newly created Kingdom of Italy. For much of this time the Vatican was not the habitual residence of the Popes, but rather the
Lateran Palace, and in recent centuries, the
Quirinal Palace, while the residence from 1309â€"1377 was at
Avignon in
France.
In 1870, the Pope's holdings were left in an uncertain situation when
Rome itself was annexed by the
Piedmontese after a nominal resistance by the papal forces. The popes were left between 1870 and 1929 in a situation somewhat like that of the
last emperor of China. They were undisturbed in their palace, and given certain recognitions by the
Law of Guarantees, including the right to send and receive ambassadors. But they did not recognize the Italian king's right to reign in Rome, and they
refused to leave the Vatican compound until the dispute was resolved in 1929. Other states continued to maintain international recognition of the Holy See as a sovereign entity. In practice Italy made no attempt to interfere with the Holy See within the Vatican walls. However, they confiscated church property in many other places, including, perhaps most notably, the
Quirinal Palace, formerly the pope's official residence. Pope Pius IX, the last ruler of the Papal States, said that after Rome was annexed he was a "
Prisoner in the Vatican". This situation was resolved on
February 11,
1929 under the premiership of
Mussolini, by the three
Lateran treaties, which established the independent State of the Vatican City and granted
Catholicism special status in Italy. The
cathedra (official seat) of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is in the Lateran Basilica, Rome's
cathedral. In 1984, a new
concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain provisions of the earlier treaty, including the position of Catholicism as the Italian state religion.
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St. Peter's Square in the early morning. |
For historical reasons, the government of Vatican City has a unique structure. As noted, the principal figures are the
Secretary of State, the President of the
Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State, and the
Governor of Vatican City. These, like all other officials, are appointed by the Pope and can be dismissed by him at any time.
During a
sede vacante (papal vacancy), the
Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, former Secretary of State, and former President of the Pontifical Commission form a commission that performs some of the functions of the head of state; while another made up of the Chamberlain and three cardinals (one being chosen by lot every three days from each order of cardinals), performs other functions of the head of state. All decisions of these commissions must be approved by the
College of Cardinals.
Administration of Vatican City
The Governor of Vatican City, sometimes known as the President of Vatican City, has duties similar to those of a
mayor or city executive, concentrating on material questions concerning the state's territory, including local security, but excluding external relations. The Vatican City maintains two modern security corps, the famous
Swiss Guards, a voluntary military force drawn from male Swiss citizens, and the
Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano. They are not really an army of the Vatican City State so much as a police force and the personal bodyguard of the Pope.
Legislative power is vested in the
Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, led by a president. Members are cardinals appointed by the pope for terms of five years.
The judicial functions are handled by three tribunals â€" the
Apostolic Signatura, the
Sacra Rota Romana, and the
Apostolic Penitentiary, which are also the judicial arm of the Holy See (see below). The legal system is based on canon, or ecclesiastical, law; if
Canon Law is not applicable, special laws of the territory apply, often modelled on Italian provisions.
Communications
Vatican City has its own post office, commissary (supermarket), bank (the
automatic teller machines are the only ones in the world to use
Latin), railway station, electricity generating plant, and
publishing house.
The Vatican also
issues its own coins and stamps and controls its own Internet domain (
.va).
Vatican Radio, the official radio station, is one of the most influential in Europe.
L'Osservatore Romano is the semi-official newspaper, published daily in Italian, and weekly in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French (plus a monthly edition in Polish). It is published by Catholic laymen but carries official information.
The Vatican City, one of the
European microstates, is situated on the Vatican Hill in the north-western part of Rome, several hundred metres west of the
Tiber river, on the latter's right bank. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all within Italy) closely follow the
city wall constructed to protect the Pope from outside attack. The situation is more complex at the famous
St. Peter's Square in front of the
St. Peter's Basilica, where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by
Bernini's colonnade. The Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7
acres).
Its
climate is the same as Rome's; a temperate, Mediterranean climate with mild, rainy winters from September to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to August. There are some local features, principally mists and dews, caused by the anomalous bulk of St Peter's Basilica, the elevation, the fountains and the size of the large paved square.
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Vatican €1 coin, showing the coat of arms of Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. This coin circulated during the papal interregnum of 2005 |
This unique, non-commercial economy is also supported financially by contributions (known as
Peter's Pence) from Catholics throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to, or somewhat better than, those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome.
Vatican City has used the
euro as its currency since
January 1,
1999, owing to a special agreement with the
EU (council decision 1999/98/CE). Euro coins and notes were introduced in
January 1,
2002. Due to its rarity, Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors.
It also has its own bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione (also known as the
Vatican Bank).
* Budget: Revenues (2003) $252 million; expenditures (2003) $264 million.
* Industries: printing and production of few mosaics and staff uniforms; worldwide banking and financial activities.
Almost all of Vatican City's 932 citizens live inside the Vatican's walls. The Vatican citizenry consists mainly of
clergy, including high dignitaries, priests, nuns, as well as the Swiss Guard. There are also about 3,000 lay workers who comprise the majority of the Vatican work force, but who reside outside the Vatican. All of the City's citizens are
Roman Catholic and Roman Catholicism is, rather obviously, the State religion of the country. There are no other places of worship inside the Vatican City other than private Catholic Chapels and
St Peter's Basilica.
The official language is
Latin.
Italian and, to a lesser extent, other languages are generally used for most conversations, publications, and broadcasts.
German is the official language of the Swiss Guard. The Vatican's official website languages are
Italian,
German,
English,
French,
Spanish, and
Portuguese.
Citizenship
Citizenship of the Vatican City is granted
ius officii. That means it is invested to those who have been appointed to work at the Vatican, and it is usually revoked upon the termination of their employment. Also in the period of employment citizenship can also be extended to a Vatican citizen's spouse (unless the marriage is annulled or dissolved, or if a conjugal separation is decreed) and children (until they turn 25 if they are capable of working, or in the case of daughters, if they marry). Terms about citizenship are defined in the
Lateran treaties and laws concerning the creation of the Vatican state in 1929, sought to restrict the number of people who could be granted Vatican citizenship. The only passports issued by the Vatican are diplomatic passports.
On
31 December 2002 there were 555 people with Vatican citizenship, of whom all are dual-citizens to other countries (the majority being Italian). The Lateran Treaty states that in the event a Vatican citizen have their original nationality revoked and also lose their Vatican citizenship, they will be automatically granted Italian citizenship.
Among the 555 were:
* The Pope
* 57 Cardinals
* 293 Members of the clergy who serve as diplomatic envoys abroad
* 56 Lesser ranking clergy members who work in the Vatican
* 104 Officers, NCOs and men of the Papal Swiss Guard.
* 44 Lay persons
Providing a territorial identity for the Holy See, the State of the Vatican City is a recognized national territory under international law. However, it is the Holy See that is the legal body that conducts diplomatic relations for the Vatican City in addition to the Holy See's usual
diplomacy, entering into international agreements and both receives and sends diplomatic representatives. Due to the very limited territory of the Vatican state, foreign embassies to the Holy See are located in the Italian part of Rome; Italy actually hosts its own Embassy of Italy.
The Holy See is currently the only European political entity that has a formal diplomatic relation with
Taiwan.
The Vatican City is itself of great cultural significance. Buildings such as St. Peter's Basilica and the
Sistine Chapel are home to some of the most beautiful art in the world, which includes works by artists such as
Botticelli,
Bernini and
Michelangelo. The
Vatican Library and the collections of the
Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance. In 1984, the Vatican was added by
UNESCO to the List of
World Heritage Sites; the only one to consist an entire country.
The permanent population of the Vatican City is predominately male, although two orders of nuns live in the Vatican. A minority are senior Catholic
clergy; the remainder are members of
religious orders. Many workers in the Vatican City live outside its walls, including the Swiss Guard and embassy personnel.
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Entrance to Vatican Museum |
Tourism and pilgrimages are an important factor in the daily life of the Vatican. The Pope leads weekly
Mass and other services, and appears on
religious holidays such as
Easter. On significant events, such as beatification ceremonies, he leads open-air Mass in Saint Peter's Square.
Dress Code
Vatican City has a strict dress code enforced within its city walls. Dress code checkpoints are located at the entrances to St. Peters Basilica.
The dress code prohibits:
*Sleeveless shirts
*Shorts/skirts above the knees
*Shirts exposing the
navel*Hats
As a result of the Vatican having a small resident population, but millions of visitors every year, the state has the highest
per capita crime rate of any nation on earth, more than twenty times higher than Italy. In his 2002 report to the pontifical court, Chief Prosecutor Nicola Picardi quoted statistics of 397
civil offences and 608
penal offences. Each year, hundreds of tourists fall victim to pickpockets and purse snatchers. The perpetrators, who are also visitors, are rarely caught, with 90% of crimes remaining unsolved.
Normally, for civil offenses the Italian courts will handle the disposition of these cases.
The most recent
murder to occur in the Vatican was in
1998, when a member of the
Swiss Guard killed two and then himself. [
2]
The Vatican abolished capital punishment in 1969 but its last execution was performed by its predecessor, the Papal States on the 9th of July 1870 at Palestrina, when Agabito (or Agapito) Bellomo was decapitated (probably by guillotine) for murder.[
3]
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Mussolini demolished a spina of medieval housing to create an avenue leading into St. Peter's Square. |
The Vatican City has no airports. There is one
heliport and an 852 metre (932
yd)
standard gauge (1435 mm) railway that connects to Italy's network at Rome's Saint Peter's station. The beautiful station building by architect Giuseppe Momo was constructed during the reign of Pius XI after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaties and opened in 1933 but now houses shops. The railway was originally planned to transport pilgrims as was intended during the reign of Pius XI but have only been rarely used to transport passengers. Pope John XXIII was the first to make use of the railway and Pope John Paul II was known to have used it as well very rarely. The railway is mainly used only to transport freight. Rome's metro line A passes about 10 minutes walk north of the Vatican
[Vatican City State Railway Railways of the World retrieved August 8, 2006].
The City is served by an independent, modern telephone system[
4] and post office. A bit of conventional wisdom in Rome is that international mail dropped in a mailbox in the Vatican will reach its destination more quickly than one dropped only a few hundred metres away in an Italian mailbox. To quote an article from the New York Times on June 27, 2004:
"As a result, more mail is sent each year, per inhabitant, from the Vatican's 00120 post code than from anywhere else in the world - 7,200, compared with about 660 in the United States or 109 in Italy - said Juliana Nel, a spokeswoman for the Universal Postal Union, a United Nations agency based in Berne, Switzerland.She called the Vatican's service "probably one of the best postal systems in the world."People sending mail to the Vatican are advised not to write anything other than Vatican City State for the destination on the envelope. The reason for this is that this enables mail to be sent directly to the Vatican - otherwise it would go through the postal systems of other countries, which would cause a delay in shipment to the Vatican. The Vatican has an official website[
5], radio station[
6], and satellite TV channels[
7].
One lucrative source of income for the state is a two-pump gasoline station where Italians can buy gas at prices up to 30% lower than in Italy, because the gas is not taxed. However, only people with special residence or work permits may use the station.
[[8] www.globalpolicy.org retrieved 23 June 2006]*
Borgo (rione of Rome)*
Flag of Vatican City*
List of holy cities*
Military of the Vatican City*
Music of the Vatican City*
Scouting in Vatican City*
Detailed map of Vatican City*
Encyclopaedia Britannica's Vatican City page*
History of Vatican City: Primary Documents*
Piazza San Pietro in Vaticano Virtual Tour with map and compass effect by Tolomeus
*
stpetersbasilica.org Largest online source for St. Peter's in the Vatican
*
The Vatican City on Google Maps.
*
UNESCO site*
Vatican City official website*
Vatican Philatelic Society Premier online source of information about Vatican City postage stamps
*
Vatican Secret Archive*
World Heritage Sitends-nl:Vaticaanstadbat-smg:Vatikans
