Vatican

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==The "Holy See" and international law==
 
==The "Holy See" and international law==
 
 
The so-called Holy See is a distinct entity and not synonymous with the tiny Vatican City "state". It comprises the Diocese of Rome, or simply the leadership of the Catholic Church, with the [[pope]] at the top. The distinction between the two bodies is rather strange and the source of considerable confusion regarding the Vatican's status as a subject of international law: while the Vatican city has a territory and citizens, the traditional attributes of a sovereign state, it is the Holy See which actually maintains international relations and is represented at the UN as a permanent observer that even enjoys voting rights.<ref>UN: [http://www.un.org/en/members/nonmembers.shtml Non-member States and Entities]</ref> The Holy See's status arises from customary international law, meaning that it is considered a relevant subject simply because real states accept it as such and are willing to sign binding treaties (concordats) with it.<ref>Josef L. Kunz, <i>The Status of the Holy See in International Law</i>, The American Journal of International Law vol. 46(2), p. 308-314</ref> Thus, the Vatican is internationally represented and recognized in its capacity as an organized religion, not as a state, a privilege that is not extended to other religions. This is the cause of an ongoing controversy, and challenges to this position have emanated even from the ranks of Catholics themselves.<ref>[http://www.seechange.org/ "See Change"], a campaign launched by Catholics for Choice and endorsed by many other organizations.</ref>
 
The so-called Holy See is a distinct entity and not synonymous with the tiny Vatican City "state". It comprises the Diocese of Rome, or simply the leadership of the Catholic Church, with the [[pope]] at the top. The distinction between the two bodies is rather strange and the source of considerable confusion regarding the Vatican's status as a subject of international law: while the Vatican city has a territory and citizens, the traditional attributes of a sovereign state, it is the Holy See which actually maintains international relations and is represented at the UN as a permanent observer that even enjoys voting rights.<ref>UN: [http://www.un.org/en/members/nonmembers.shtml Non-member States and Entities]</ref> The Holy See's status arises from customary international law, meaning that it is considered a relevant subject simply because real states accept it as such and are willing to sign binding treaties (concordats) with it.<ref>Josef L. Kunz, <i>The Status of the Holy See in International Law</i>, The American Journal of International Law vol. 46(2), p. 308-314</ref> Thus, the Vatican is internationally represented and recognized in its capacity as an organized religion, not as a state, a privilege that is not extended to other religions. This is the cause of an ongoing controversy, and challenges to this position have emanated even from the ranks of Catholics themselves.<ref>[http://www.seechange.org/ "See Change"], a campaign launched by Catholics for Choice and endorsed by many other organizations.</ref>
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==See also==
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*[[Vatican]]
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[[Category:Catholicism]]
  
 
==Footnotes==
 
==Footnotes==

Revision as of 10:31, 14 March 2012

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The Vatican or more properly Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the world's smallest country (though really it's just a city-state created in 1929 and not properly recognised by the UN) measuring 1.05 kilometres (0.6 mi) long and .85 kilometres (0.5 mi) wide. It is currently the world's only Christian theocracy, although this is fairly forgiveable as it is the center of the Roman Catholic Church, after all. However, as its birthrate is an impressive 0 and all its inhabitants chose to live there, that's their own problem.

Contents

Popish crime

Due to the number of tourists visiting the Vatican and its small permanent population of 800 or so, its crime rate has the bizarre attribute of being 133% of its population.[1] It has the distinction of boasting the world's highest concentration of resident Popes, with an average papal density of almost six per square mile.

Wealth

The Vatican has a wealth of architectural and artistic treasures on its territory, and is the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, is head of state. Aside from its cultural wealth, there is also a large amount of actual, folding wealth there.[2]

Policy

It is assumed that the Vatican website represents views similar to those of the Vatican.

When the Church issues an edict, the news media usually reports that the Vatican issued the edict, never the pope or the church. This is similar to how the media reports that the White House - not the president or the administration - issues official statements.

History

The Vatican was created by the Lateran Treaty of 1929 as a ploy by Mussolini to suck up to the Catholic Church, in return for which they would publicly support his policies. Back then, even a fascist had to play nice with the Pope, or possible vice-versa. (There had previously been Papal States run by the Pope, which included a large tract of the Italian peninsula, but these were absorbed into the new Italy by 1870.)

Although the status of the Vatican as a "state" is generally accepted the situation began to be questioned in 2010 - specifically, whether the Pope could be arrested in other countries for the Church's long-running protection of child-raping priests. The point made is that although Mussolini may have decided to call the Vatican a "state", it is by no means clear that this legally created a state. The Vatican is not recognised as a state by the UN, though it is unique in having observer status there.

The "Holy See" and international law

The so-called Holy See is a distinct entity and not synonymous with the tiny Vatican City "state". It comprises the Diocese of Rome, or simply the leadership of the Catholic Church, with the pope at the top. The distinction between the two bodies is rather strange and the source of considerable confusion regarding the Vatican's status as a subject of international law: while the Vatican city has a territory and citizens, the traditional attributes of a sovereign state, it is the Holy See which actually maintains international relations and is represented at the UN as a permanent observer that even enjoys voting rights.[3] The Holy See's status arises from customary international law, meaning that it is considered a relevant subject simply because real states accept it as such and are willing to sign binding treaties (concordats) with it.[4] Thus, the Vatican is internationally represented and recognized in its capacity as an organized religion, not as a state, a privilege that is not extended to other religions. This is the cause of an ongoing controversy, and challenges to this position have emanated even from the ranks of Catholics themselves.[5]

See also

  • Vatican

Footnotes

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#Crime
  2. Vatican website
  3. UN: Non-member States and Entities
  4. Josef L. Kunz, The Status of the Holy See in International Law, The American Journal of International Law vol. 46(2), p. 308-314
  5. "See Change", a campaign launched by Catholics for Choice and endorsed by many other organizations.
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