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The Holy See, also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the pope in his role as the Bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome, which has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the worldwide Catholic Church and sovereignty over the city-state known as the Vatican City. As the supreme body of government of the Catholic Church, the Holy See enjoys the status of a sovereign juridical entity under international law.
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, is a landlocked independent country, city-state, microstate, and enclave within Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains the city-state's temporal power and governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence.
The politics of Vatican City take place in a framework of a theocratic absolute elective monarchy, in which the Pope, religiously speaking, the leader of the Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome, exercises ex officio supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power over the Vatican City as it is being governed by the Holy See, a rare case of non-hereditary monarchy.
The Vatican City State is a neutral nation, which has not engaged in any war since its formation in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty. It has no formal military compact or agreement with neighbouring Italy, although responsibility for defending the Vatican City from an international aggressor is likely to lie primarily with the Italian Armed Forces. When presenting the Lateran Treaty to the Italian parliament in 1929, Benito Mussolini declared: "It is evident that we [the Italian state] will be the necessary guarantors of this neutrality and inviolability [of Vatican City], since, in the remote hypothesis someone wanted to hurt her, he would first have to violate our territory." Although the Vatican City state has never been at war, it was exposed, together with properties of the Holy See in Rome, to bombings during World War II.
The Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial institution that is situated inside Vatican City and run by a Board of Superintendence, which reports to a Commission of Cardinals and the Pope. It is not a private bank, as there are no owners or shareholders; it has been established in the form of a juridical canonical foundation, pursuant to its statutes. Since 9 July 2014, its president is Jean-Baptiste de Franssu. The IOR is regulated by the Vatican's financial supervisory body AIF.
The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.
The Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State is the gendarmerie, or military police and security force, of Vatican City, Holy See and its extraterritorial properties. It was founded in 1816 as Corps of Gendarmes by Pope Pius VII, renamed the Central Security Office in 1970, the Security Corps in 1991, and was restored to its original name in 2002.
Domenico Giani is an italian ex police officer security expert who was the Inspector General of the Corpo della Gendarmeria, the police and security force of Vatican City.
Achille Silvestrini was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served in the Vatican diplomatic corps, either in Rome or abroad, from 1953 to 1990, and later as Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches from 1991 to 2000.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard is an armed force and honour guard unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City State. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, the Pontifical Swiss Guard is among the oldest military units in continuous operation.
Pietro ParolinOMRI is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers since July 2014. Before that, he worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See for thirty years, where his assignments included terms in Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela, as well as more than six years as Undersecretary of State for Relations with States.
Crime in the Vatican City consists largely of purse snatching, pick-pocketing and shoplifting perpetrated by tourists upon other tourists. The tourist foot-traffic in St. Peter's Square is one of the main locations for pickpockets in Vatican City.
The Holy See Press Office publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages, documents, as well as the statements issued by the Director, are published in their entirety.
Giovanni Angelo Becciu is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and convicted felon. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 28 June 2018. On 24 September 2020, he resigned the rights associated with the cardinalate.
The Council of Cardinals, also known as the Council of Cardinal Advisers, is a group of cardinals of the Catholic Church appointed by Pope Francis to serve as his advisers. The Council was formally established on 28 September 2013.
The Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State is the fire brigade of the Vatican City State. It was founded in its present form by Pope Pius XII in 1941, although its origins are much older.
Michael F. Czerny is a Czechoslovakian-born Canadian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 23 April 2022, after serving as interim prefect for several months. He was under secretary of that dicastery's Migrants and Refugees Section from 2017 to 2022. Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2019.
The Dictator Pope: The Inside Story of the Francis Papacy is a biography of Pope Francis authored by the Anglo–French historian H. J. A. Sire under the pseudonym "Marcantonio Colonna". Published initially in Italian, and later in English, the book takes a highly critical view of Pope Francis and his papacy over the Catholic Church. The book contends to be "the inside story of the most tyrannical and unprincipled papacy of modern times," arguing that Pope Francis, while presenting himself as humble, rules over the Church through fear and has allied to some of the most corrupt elements in the Vatican. On its 2017 release, the book reached 4th place on Amazon Kindle's Religion and Spirituality bestseller list.
Fernando Vérgez AlzagaL.C. is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who has been President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State since 1 October 2021. He was Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State from 2013 to 2021 and before that director of the Vatican City State Telecommunications Directorate.
Events in the year 2021 in Vatican City.
References
- 1 2 O'Connell, Gerard (15 October 2019). "Pope Francis appoints cybersecurity expert to head Vatican Security Services". America. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 "Resignations and Appointments, 15.10.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ↑ Wooden, Cindy (12 November 2012). "Vatican court finds computer tech guilty of aiding, abetting butler". National Catholic Reporter . Catholic News Service . Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ↑ Arocho Esteves, Junno (25 May 2016). "'VatiLeaks': Investigator says consultant admitted leaking documents". National Catholic Reporter . Catholic News Service . Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ↑ "Former Vatican diplomat admits accessing child porn during trial". Crux. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ↑ Brockhaus, Hannah (15 October 2019). "Pope Francis appoints new head of Vatican security". Catholic News Agency . Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- Additional sources
- Agasso Jr., Domenico (16 October 2019). "Gauzzi, fedelissimo di Papa e Parolin: uomo forte ma anti-militarizzazione" [Gauzzi, very loyal to Pope and Parolin: strong man but anti-militarization]. La Stampa (in Italian).
