The Holy See, also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican City State. It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the Apostolic episcopal see of Rome and serves as the spiritual and administrative authority of the worldwide Catholic Church and the city-state. Under international law, the Holy See holds the status of a sovereign juridical entity.
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, is a landlocked sovereign country, city-state, microstate, and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, which is itself a sovereign entity under international law, maintaining the city-state's temporal power, governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the city-state's and worldwide Catholic Church government Holy See, and Roman Curia. The country has the world's smallest land area and the smallest population, with 764 citizens as of 2023.
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 Vatican Apostolic Archive, formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archive, is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See.
The Secretary of State of His Holiness, known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. The Secretariat of State performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. The secretary of state is sometimes described as the prime minister of the Holy See, even though the nominal head of government of Vatican City is the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians. It is in communion with the Holy See. It was founded in 1988 by 12 former members of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) who left following the Écône consecrations, which resulted in the SSPX bishops being excommunicated by the Holy See.
Antonio Allegra was an Italian organist and lyricist. As one of the organists of St. Peter's Basilica at his time, he wrote the words to Inno e Marcia Pontificale, which was adopted in 1949 as the national anthem of the Holy See. The music was by Charles Gounod.
Ruffles and flourishes are preceding fanfare for honors music, ceremonial music for distinguished people.
The Domus Sanctae Marthae is a building adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Completed in 1996, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, it is named after Martha of Bethany, who was a sibling to Mary and Lazarus of Bethany. The building functions as a guest house for clergy having business with the Holy See, and as the temporary residence of members of the College of Cardinals while participating in a papal conclave to elect a new pope.
The Roman Ritual, also known as Ritual is one of the official liturgical books of the Roman Rite of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. It contains all of the services that a priest or deacon may perform; and are not contained in the Missale Romanum, Pontificale Romanum, or Caeremoniale Episcoporum, but for convenience does include some rituals that one of these books contains.
The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State and performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See. The Secretariat is divided into three sections: the Section for General Affairs, the Section for Relations with States, and, since 2017, the Section for Diplomatic Staff.
"Yutang Tabonon" is a Catholic hymn in the Cebuano language, praying for protection of the Filipino people.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard, also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply 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, it is among the oldest military units in continuous operation, and is sometimes called "the world's smallest army".
The Roman Pontifical is the pontifical as used in Roman Rite liturgies of the Catholic Church. It is the liturgical book that contains the rites and ceremonies usually performed by bishops.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Vatican City:
This is an index of Vatican City–related topics.
The Marcia trionfale was the first personal anthem of the Pope and the first state anthem of the Vatican City State. It was written in 1857 by Viktorin Hallmayer, then director of the band of the Austrian 47th Infantry Regiment of the Line stationed within the Papal States.
The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See include titles, chivalric orders, distinctions and medals honoured by the Holy See, with the Pope as the fount of honour, for deeds and merits of their recipients to the benefit of the Holy See, the Catholic Church, or their respective communities, societies, nations and the world at large.
The Pontifical Academy for Latin is an organization established in 2012 to promote appreciation for the Latin language and culture. The Academy replaced the Latinitas Foundation, which Pope Paul VI erected in 1976, and is linked to the Dicastery for Culture and Education on which it depends. Its headquarters is located in Vatican City.
The papal nobility are the aristocracy of the Holy See, composed of persons holding titles bestowed by the Pope. From the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century, the papacy held direct temporal power in the Papal States, and many titles of papal nobility were derived from fiefs with territorial privileges attached. During this time, the Pope also bestowed ancient civic titles such as patrician. Today, the Pope still exercises authority to grant titles with territorial designations, although these are purely nominal and the privileges enjoyed by the holders pertain to styles of address and heraldry. Additionally, the Pope grants personal and familial titles that carry no territorial designation. Their titles being merely honorific, the modern papal nobility includes descendants of ancient Roman families as well as notable Catholics from many countries. All pontifical noble titles are within the personal gift of the pontiff, and are not recorded in the Official Acts of the Holy See.
