About the CBI

October 2005
Background Note: The Holy See

The flag of the Holy See is two vertical bands of yellow (hoist side) and
white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the papal miter centered in
the white band.

PROFILE

OFFICIAL NAME:
Holy See

Geography and People
Area: total of 0.44 sq. km. (109 acres).
Population: 790.
Ethnic groups: Italian, Swiss, other.
Religion: Roman Catholic.
Languages: Italian, Latin, French, various others.
Literacy: 100%.
Work force: 3,000 lay workers (reside outside the Vatican).

Government
Type: Papacy; ecclesiastical governmental and administrative capital of the
Roman Catholic Church
Independence: Lateran Pacts confirming independence and sovereignty of The
Holy See signed with Italy on February 11, 1929.
Suffrage: Limited to Cardinals less than 80 years old.

Economy
Budget: Revenues (2003) $252 million; expenditures (2003) $264 million.
Industries: printing and production of few mosaics and staff uniforms;
worldwide banking and financial activities. This unique, noncommercial
economy is also supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's
Pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps
and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, fees from admissions 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.

PEOPLE AND HISTORY
Almost all of Vatican City's 790 citizens live inside the Vatican's walls.
The Vatican includes high dignitaries, priests, nuns, and guards as well as
about 3,000 lay workers who comprise the majority of the work force.

The Holy See's diplomatic history began in the fourth century, but the
boundaries of the papacy's temporal power have shifted over the centuries.
From the 8th century through the middle of the 19th century, the Popes held
sway over the Papal States, which included a broad band of territory across
central Italy. In 1860, after prolonged civil and regional unrest, Victor
Emmanuel's army seized the Papal States, leaving only Rome and surrounding
coastal regions under papal control.

In 1870, Victor Emmanuel captured Rome itself and declared it the new capital
of Italy, ending papal claims to temporal power. Pope Pius IX and his
successors disputed the legitimacy of these acts and proclaimed themselves to
be "prisoners" in the Vatican. Finally, in 1929, the Italian Government and
the Holy See signed three agreements resolving the dispute:

* A treaty recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the Holy See and
creating the State of the Vatican City;
* A concordat defining the relations between the government and the church
within Italy; and
* A financial convention providing the Holy See with compensation for its
losses in 1870.

A revised concordat, altering the terms of church-state relations, was signed
in 1984.

GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS
The Pope exercises supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power over
the Holy See and the State of the Vatican City. Pope John Paul II, elected on
October 16, 1978, died on April 2, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI, former Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, was elected and invested on April 19 and
formally inaugurated on April 24, 2005.

The term "Holy See" refers to the composite of the authority, jurisdiction,
and sovereignty vested in the Pope and his advisers to direct the worldwide
Roman Catholic Church. As the "central government" of the Roman Catholic
Church, the Holy See has a legal personality that allows it to enter into
treaties as the juridical equal of a state and to send and receive diplomatic
representatives. The Holy See has formal diplomatic relations with 174
nations, including the United States and many predominantly Muslim countries.
The Holy See also maintains relations of a special nature with the Russian
Federation and the Organization for the Liberation of Palestine.

Created in 1929 to provide a territorial identity for the Holy See in Rome,
the State of the Vatican City is a recognized national territory under
international law. The Holy See, however, enters into international
agreements and receives and sends diplomatic representatives.

Administration of the Vatican City
The Pope delegates the internal administration of the Vatican City to the
Pontifical Commission for the State of the Vatican City. The Vatican City
maintains the Swiss Guards, a voluntary military force, as well as a modern
security corps. It has its own post office, commissary, bank, railway
station, electrical generating plant, and publishing house. The Vatican also
issues its own coins, stamps and internet domain (.va). Radio Vatican, 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.

Administration of the Holy See
The Pope rules the Holy See through the Roman Curia and the Papal Civil
Service. The Roman Curia consists of the Secretariat of State, nine
Congregations, three Tribunals, 11 Pontifical Councils, and a complex of
offices that administer church affairs at the highest level. The Secretariat
of State, under the Cardinal Secretary of State, directs and coordinates the
Curia. Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the appointment of Pope John Paul II's
Secretary of State and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church on April
21, 2005.

Among the most active of the major Curial institutions are the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees church doctrine; the
Congregation for Bishops, which coordinates the appointment of bishops
worldwide; the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which oversees
all missionary activities; and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace,
which deals with international peace and social issues.

Three tribunals are responsible for judicial power. The Apostolic
Penitentiary deals with matters of conscience; the Roman Rota is responsible
for appeals, including annulments of marriage; and the Apostolic Signatura is
the final court of appeal.

The Prefecture for Economic Affairs coordinates the finances of the Holy See
departments and supervises the administration of the Patrimony of the Holy
See, an investment fund dating back to the Lateran Pacts. A committee of 15
cardinals, chaired by the Secretary of State, has final oversight authority
over all financial matters of the Holy See, including those of the Institute
for Works of Religion, the Vatican bank.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State--Pope Benedict XVI
Secretary of State (Prime Minister)--Cardinal Angelo Sodano
Deputy Secretary of State--Archbishop Leonardo Sandri
Secretary of Section for Relations With States (Foreign Minister)--Archbishop
Giovanni Lajolo
Apostolic Nuncio (equivalent to Ambassador) to the United States--Archbishop
Gabriel Montalvo

The Holy See maintains an Apostolic Nunciature, the equivalent of an embassy,
in the U.S. at 3339 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, (202)
333-7121.

Papal Audiences
The North American College in Rome, owned and operated by the U.S. Catholic
hierarchy for training American priests, handles requests for papal
audiences. The address is Casa Santa Maria dell'Umilta, Via dell'Umilta 30,
00187, Rome, Italy (tel. 39-06-690-0189).

FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Holy See conducts an active diplomacy. As noted, it maintains formal
diplomatic relations with 174 nations; 68 of these maintain permanent
resident diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See in Rome. The rest
have missions located outside Italy with dual accreditation. The Holy See
maintains 106 permanent diplomatic missions to nation-states. Furthermore,
The Holy See has two separate permanent diplomatic missions: one to the
European Union, another to the Russian Federation.

The Holy See is especially active in international organizations. The Holy
See has diplomatic relations with the European Union (EU) in Brussels, it is
a permanent observer of the United Nations Organization (UN), Organization of
American States (OAS) in Washington, African Union (AU), World Tourist
Organization (WToO), World Trade Organization (WTO), World Health
Organization (WHO), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), United Nations International Drug Control Programme
(UNDCP), United Nations Center for Human Settlements (UNCHS), Latin Union
(LU), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labor
Organization (ILO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD),
and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The Holy See is also an observer on an informal basis of the World
Meteorological Organization in Geneva (WMO), United Nations Committee of
Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR), International Maritime Organization (IMO), African Asian
Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC) and the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO).

The Holy See is a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Telecommunication
Satellite Organization (ITSO), World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), Universal Postal Union (UPU), International Institute for the
Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
International Grains Council (IGC), International Committee for Military
Medicine (ICMM), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the
Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Organization (CTBTO).

In 1971, the Holy See announced the decision to adhere to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty in order to "give its moral support to the
principles that form the base of the treaty itself." The Holy See is also a
participating state in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe: it is a guest of honor to the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Furthermore, the Holy See has a delegate to the Arab League in Cairo (AL).

U.S.-HOLY SEE RELATIONS
The United States maintained consular relations with the Papal States from
1797 to 1870 and diplomatic relations with the Pope, in his capacity as head
of the Papal States, from 1848 to 1868, though not at the ambassadorial
level. These relations lapsed with the loss of all papal territories in 1870.

From 1870 to 1984, the United States did not have diplomatic relations with
the Holy See. Several presidents, however, designated personal envoys to
visit the Holy See periodically for discussions of international humanitarian
and political issues. Myron C. Taylor was the first of these representatives,
serving from 1939 to 1950. Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan also
appointed personal envoys to the Pope.

The United States and the Holy See announced the establishment of diplomatic
relations on January 10, 1984. On March 7, 1984, the Senate confirmed William
A. Wilson as the first U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Ambassador Wilson had
been President Reagan's personal envoy to the Pope since 1981. The Holy See
named Archbishop Pio Laghi as Apostolic Nuncio (equivalent to ambassador) of
the Holy See to the U.S.

Establishment of diplomatic relations has bolstered the frequent contact and
consultation between the United States and the Holy See on many important
international issues of mutual interest. The commitment to human dignity at
the core of both the U.S. and Holy See approach to the world gives rise to a
common agenda for action to promote religious freedom, justice, religious and
ethnic tolerance, liberty, respect for women and children and for the rule of
law. The relationship is best characterized as an active global partnership
for human dignity.

Principal U.S. Embassy Official
Ambassador--Francis Rooney

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See is located in Rome in the Villa Domiziana,
Via delle Terme Deciane 26, 00153 Rome, Italy, Tel: (396) 4674-3428.