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Holy See Holy Father
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National name:
Stato della Cittą del Vaticano
Ruler:
Eduardo Cardinal Martķnez Somalo (acting)
Population (July 2003 est.):
Languages:
Italian, Latin, French, various other languages
Labour force:
Dignitaries, priests, nuns, guards, and 3,000 lay workers who live outside the Vatican
Budget (2001):
Revenues: $173.5 million; expenditures: $176.6 million, including capital expenditures
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 2 (1998)
Television broadcast stations:
Transportation: Railways:
Total: 0.86 km; note: connects to Italy's network at Rome's Saint Peter's station (2001)
Transportation: Highways:
Transportation: Ports and harbours:
Transportation: Airports:
Transportation: Heliports:
International disputes:
Full List of Popes
- St. Peter (b. Bethsaida) | 42? 67?
- St. Linus (b. Tuscia) | c. 67 76
- St. Anacletus (Cletus) (b. Rome) | 76 88
- St. Clement (b. Rome) | 88 97
- St. Evaristus (b. Greece) | 97 105
- St. Alexander I (b. Rome) | 105 115
- St. Sixtus I (b. Rome) | 115 125
- St. Telesphorus (b. Greece) | 125 136
- St. Hyginus (b. Greece) | 136 140
- St. Pius I (b. Aquileia) | 140 155
- St. Anicetus (b. Syria) | 155 166
- St. Soter (b. Campania) | 166 175
- St. Eleutherius (b. Epirus) | 175 189
- St. Victor I (b. Africa) | 189 199
- St. Zephyrinus (b. Rome) | 199 217
- St. Callistus I (b. Rome) | 217 222
- St. Urban I (b. Rome) | 222 230
- St. Pontian (b. Rome) | 230 235
- St. Anterus (b. Greece) | 235 236
- St. Fabian (b. Rome) | 236 250
- St. Cornelius (b. Rome) | 251 253
- St. Lucius I (b. Rome) | 253 254
- St. Stephen I (b. Rome) | 254 257
- St. Sixtus II (b. Greece) | 257 258
- St. Dionysius (Unknown) | 259 268
- St. Felix I (b. Rome) | 269 274
- St. Eutychian (b. Luni) | 275 283
- St. Caius (b. Dalmatia) | 283 296
- St. Marcellinus (b. Rome) | 296 304
- St. Marcellus I (b. Rome) | 308 309
- St. Eusebius (b. Greece) | 309 310
- St. Meltiades (b. Africa) | 311 314
- St. Sylvester I (b. Rome) | 314 335
- St. Marcus (b. Rome) | 336 336
- St. Julius I (b. Rome) | 337 352
- Liberius (b. Rome) | 352 366
- St. Damasus I (b. Spain) | 366 384
- St. Siricius (b. Rome) | 384 399
- St. Anastasius I (b. Rome) | 399 401
- St. Innocent I (b. Albano) | 401 417
- St. Zozimus (b. Greece) | 417 418
- St. Boniface I (b. Rome) | 418 422
- St. Celestine I (b. Campania) | 422 432
- St. Sixtus III (b. Rome) | 432 440
- St. Leo I
(the Great) (b. Tuscany) | 440 461
- St. Hilary (b. Sardinia) | 461 468
- St. Simplicius (b. Tivoli) | 468 483
- St. Felix III (II)2 (b. Rome) | 483 492
- St. Gelasius I (b. Africa) | 492 496
- Anastasius II (b. Rome) | 496 498
- St. Symmachus (b. Sardinia) | 498 514
- St. Hormisdas (b. Frosinone) | 514 523
- St. John I (b. Tuscany) | 523 526
- St. Felix IV (III) (b. Samnium) | 526 530
- Boniface II (b. Rome) | 530 532
- John II (b. Rome) | 533 535
- St. Agapitus I (b. Rome) | 535 536
- St. Silverius (b. Campania) | 536 537
- Vigilius (b. Rome) | 537 555
- Pelagius I (b. Rome) | 556 561
- John III (b. Rome) | 561 574
- Benedict I (b. Rome) | 575 579
- Pelagius II (b. Rome) | 579 590
- St. Gregory I
(the Great) (b. Rome) | 590 604
- Sabinianus (b. Tuscany) | 604 606
- Boniface III (b. Rome) | 607 607
- St. Boniface IV (b. Marsi) | 608 615
- St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (b. Rome) | 615 618
- Boniface V (b. Naples) | 619 625
- Honorius I (b. Campania) | 625 638
- Severinus (b. Rome) | 640 640
- John IV (b. Dalmatia) | 640 642
- Theodore I (b. Greece) | 642 649
- St. Martin I (b. Todi) | 649 655
- St. Eugene I (b. Rome) | 654 657
- St. Vitalian (b. Segni) | 657 672
- Adeodatus II (b. Rome) | 672 676
- Donus (b. Rome) | 676 678
- St. Agatho (b. Sicily) | 678 681
- St. Leo II (b. Sicily) | 682 683
- St. Benedict II (b. Rome) | 684 685
- John V (b. Syria) | 685 686
- Conon (Unknown) | 686 687
- St. Sergius I (b. Syria) | 687 701
- John VI (b. Greece) | 701 705
- John VII (b. Greece) | 705 707
- Sisinnius (b. Syria) | 708 708
- Constantine (b. Syria) | 708 715
- St. Gregory II (b. Rome) | 715 731
- St. Gregory III (b. Syria) | 731 741
- St. Zachary (b. Greece) | 741 752
- Stephen II (III) (b. Rome) | 752 757
- St. Paul I (b. Rome) | 757 767
- Stephen III (IV) (b. Sicily) | 768 772
- Adrian I (b. Rome) | 772 795
- St. Leo III (b. Rome) | 795 816
- Stephen IV (V) (b. Rome) | 816 817
- St. Paschal I (b. Rome) | 817 824
- Eugene II (b. Rome) | 824 827
- Valentine (b. Rome) | 827 827
- Gregory IV (b. Rome) | 827 844
- Sergius II (b. Rome) | 844 847
- St. Leo IV (b. Rome) | 847 855
- Benedict III (b. Rome) | 855 858
- St. Nicholas I (the Great) (b. Rome) | 858 867
- Adrian II (b. Rome) | 867 872
- John VIII (b. Rome) | 872 882
- Marinus I (b. Gallese) | 882 884
- St. Adrian III (b. Rome) | 884 885
- Stephen V (VI) (b. Rome) | 885 891
- Formosus (b. Portus) | 891 896
- Boniface VI (b. Rome) | 896 896
- Stephen VI (VII) (b. Rome) | 896 897
- Romanus (b. Gallese) | 897 897
- Theodore II (b. Rome) | 897 897
- John IX (b. Tivoli) | 898 900
- Benedict IV (b. Rome) | 900 903
- Leo V (b. Ardea) | 903 903
- Sergius III (b. Rome) | 904 911
- Anastasius III (b. Rome) | 911 913
- Landus (b. Sabina) | 913 914
- John X (b. Tossignano) | 914 928
- Leo VI (b. Rome) | 928 928
- Stephen VII (VIII) (b. Rome) | 928 931
- John XI (b. Rome) | 931 935
- Leo VII (b. Rome) | 936 939
- Stephen VIII (IX) (b. Rome) | 939 942
- Marinus II (b. Rome) | 942 946
- Agapitus II (b. Rome) | 946 955
- John XII (b. Tusculum) | 955 964
- Leo VIII5 (b. Rome) | 963 965
- Benedict V5 (b. Rome) | 964 966
- John XIII (b. Rome) | 965 972
- Benedict VI (b. Rome) | 973 974
- Benedict VII (b. Rome) | 974 983
- John XIV (b. Pavia) | 983 984
- John XV (b. Rome) | 985 996
- Gregory V (b. Saxony) | 996 999
- Sylvester II (b. Auvergne) | 999 1003
- John XVII (b. Rome) | 1003 1003
- John XVIII (b. Rome) | 1004 1009
- Sergius IV (b. Rome) | 1009 1012
- Benedict VIII (b. Tusculum) | 1012 1024
- John XIX (b. Tusculum) | 1024 1032
- Benedict IX6 (b. Tusculum) | 1032 1044
- Sylvester III (b. Rome) | 1045 1045
- Benedict IX
(2nd time) (b. Tusculum) | 1045 1045
- Gregory VI (b. Rome) | 1045 1046
- Clement II (b. Saxony) | 1046 1047
- Benedict IX
(3rd time) (b. Tusculum) | 1047 1048
- Damasus II (b. Bavaria) | 1048 1048
- St. Leo IX (b. Alsace) | 1049 1054
- Victor II (b. Germany) | 1055 1057
- Stephen IX (X) (b. Lorraine) | 1057 1058
- Nicholas II (b. Burgundy) | 1059 1061
- Alexander II (b. Milan) | 1061 1073
- St. Gregory VII (b. Tuscany) | 1073 1085
- Bl. Victor III (b. Benevento) | 1086 1087
- Bl. Urban II (b. France) | 1088 1099
- Paschal II (b. Ravenna) | 1099 1118
- Gelasius II (b. Gaeta) | 1118 1119
- Callistus II (b. Burgundy) | 1119 1124
- Honorius II (b. Flagnano) | 1124 1130
- Innocent II (b. Rome) | 1130 1143
- Celestine II (b. Cittą di Castello) | 1143 1144
- Lucius II (b. Bologna) | 1144 1145
- Bl. Eugene III (b. Pisa) | 1145 1153
- Anastasius IV (b. Rome) | 1153 1154
- Adrian IV (b. England) | 1154 1159
- Alexander III (b. Siena) | 1159 1181
- Lucius III (b. Lucca) | 1181 1185
- Urban III (b. Milan) | 1185 1187
- Gregory VIII (b. Benevento) | 1187 1187
- Clement III (b. Rome) | 1187 1191
- Celestine III (b. Rome) | 1191 1198
- Innocent III (b. Anagni) | 1198 1216
- Honorius III (b. Rome) | 1216 1227
- Gregory IX (b. Anagni) | 1227 1241
- Celestine IV (b. Milan) | 1241 1241
- Innocent IV (b. Genoa) | 1243 1254
- Alexander IV (b. Anagni) | 1254 1261
- Urban IV (b. Troyes) | 1261 1264
- Clement IV (b. France) | 1265 1268
- Bl. Gregory X (b. Piacenza) | 1271 1276
- Bl. Innocent V (b. Savoy) | 1276 1276
- Adrian V (b. Genoa) | 1276 1276
- John XXI7 (b. Portugal) | 1276 1277
- Nicholas III (b. Rome) | 1277 1280
- Martin IV (b. France) | 1281 1285
- Honorius IV (b. Rome) | 1285 1287
- Nicholas IV (b. Ascoli) | 1288 1292
- St. Celestine V (b. Isernia) | 1294 1294
- Boniface VIII (b. Anagni) | 1294 1303
- Bl. Benedict XI (b. Treviso) | 1303 1304
- Clement V (b. France) | 1305 1314
- John XXII (b. Cahors) | 1316 1334
- Benedict XII (b. France) | 1334 1342
- Clement VI (b. France) | 1342 1352
- Innocent VI (b. France) | 1352 1362
- Bl. Urban V (b. France) | 1362 1370
- Gregory XI (b. France) | 1370 1378
- Urban VI (b. Naples) | 1378 1389
- Boniface IX (b. Naples) | 1389 1404
- Innocent VII (b. Sulmona) | 1404 1406
- Gregory XII (b. Venice) | 1406 1415
- Martin V (b. Rome) | 1417 1431
- Eugene IV (b. Venice) | 1431 1447
- Nicholas V (b. Sarzana) | 1447 1455
- Callistus III (b. Jativa) | 1455 1458
- Pius II (b. Siena) | 1458 1464
- Paul II (b. Venice) | 1464 1471
- Sixtus IV (b. Savona) | 1471 1484
- Innocent VIII (b. Genoa) | 1484 1492
- Alexander VI (b. Jativa) | 1492 1503
- Pius III (b. Siena) | 1503 1503
- Julius II (b. Savona) | 1503 1513
- Leo X (b. Florence) | 1513 1521
- Adrian VI (b. Utrecht) | 1522 1523
- Clement VII (b. Florence) | 1523 1534
- Paul III (b. Rome) | 1534 1549
- Julius III (b. Rome) | 1550 1555
- Marcellus II (b. Montepulciano) | 1555 1555
- Paul IV (b. Naples) | 1555 1559
- Pius IV (b. Milan) | 1559 1565
- St. Pius V (b. Bosco) | 1566 1572
- Gregory XIII (b. Bologna) | 1572 1585
- Sixtus V (b. Grottammare) | 1585 1590
- Urban VII (b. Rome) | 1590 1590
- Gregory XIV (b. Cremona) | 1590 1591
- Innocent IX (b. Bologna) | 1591 1591
- Clement VIII (b. Florence) | 1592 1605
- Leo XI (b. Florence) | 1605 1605
- Paul V (b. Rome) | 1605 1621
- Gregory XV (b. Bologna) | 1621 1623
- Urban VIII (b. Florence) | 1623 1644
- Innocent X (b. Rome) | 1644 1655
- Alexander VII (b. Siena) | 1655 1667
- Clement IX (b. Pistoia) | 1667 1669
- Clement X (b. Rome) | 1670 1676
- Bl. Innocent XI (b. Como) | 1676 1689
- Alexander VIII (b. Venice) | 1689 1691
- Innocent XII (b. Spinazzola) | 1691 1700
- Clement XI (b. Urbino) | 1700 1721
- Innocent XIII (b. Rome) | 1721 1724
- Benedict XIII (b. Gravina) | 1724 1730
- Clement XII (b. Florence) | 1730 1740
- Benedict XIV (b. Bologna) | 1740 1758
- Clement XIII (b. Venice) | 1758 1769
- Clement XIV (b. Rimini) | 1769 1774
- Pius VI (b. Cesena) | 1775 1799
- Pius VII (b. Cesena) | 1800 1823
- Leo XII (b. Genga) | 1823 1829
- Pius VIII (b. Cingoli) | 1829 1830
- Gregory XVI (b. Belluno) | 1831 1846
- Pius IX (b. Senegallia) | 1846 1878
- Leo XIII (b. Carpineto) | 1878 1903
- St. Pius X (b. Riese) | 1903 1914
- Benedict XV (b. Genoa) | 1914 1922
- Pius XI (b. Desio) | 1922 1939
- Pius XII (b. Rome) | 1939 1958
- John XXIII (b. Sotto il Monte) | 1958 1963
- Paul VI (b. Concesio) | 1963 1978
- John Paul I (b. Forno di Canale) | 1978 1978
- John Paul II (b. Wadowice, Poland) | 1978 2005
- Benedict XVI (b. Marktl, Bavaria, Germany) | 2005
Statue of St. Peter
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Vatican City | History
St. Peter's Basicila
St. Peter's, Vatican City
Vatican City
History | Vatican
It is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of Rome (the ager vaticanus) had always been considered sacred, even before the arrival of Christianity.
In 326 the first church was built on the supposed site of the tomb of Saint Peter, and from then on the area started to become more populated.
Popes in their secular role gradually extended their control over 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 united Kingdom of Italy.
In 1870, the Pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved on February 11, 1929 by three Lateran treaties, which established the independent state of the Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a new concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain provisions of the earlier treaty, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion.
Geography
The Vatican City State is situated on the Vatican hill, on the right bank of the Tiber River, within the city of Rome.
Government
The Pope has full legal, executive, and judicial powers. Executive power over the area is in the hands of a commission of cardinals appointed by the pope. The College of Cardinals is the pope's chief advisory body, and upon his death the cardinals elect his successor for life.
Trivia
Almost all of the 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 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.
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 www.vatican.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.
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. The current incumbent, Angelo Cardinal Sodano, is the Holy See's equivalent of a prime minister. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, Secretary of the Section for Relations With States of the Secretariat of State is the Vatican's foreign minister.
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.
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