1.
Glossary of vexillology
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Flag terminology is the nomenclature, or system of terms, used in vexillology, the study of flags, to describe precisely the parts, patterns, and other attributes of flags and their display. Badge A coat of arms or simple heraldic symbol, canton Any quarter of a flag, but commonly means the upper hoist quarter, such as the field of stars in the flag of the United States or the Union Jack in the Australian Flag. Charge A figure or symbol appearing in the field of a flag, emblem A device often used as a charge on a flag. It may be heraldic in origin or modern, for example the maple leaf on the Canadian Flag, field The background of a flag, the color behind the charges. Fimbriation A narrow edging or border, often in white or gold, for example the white and gold lines of the South African Flag. Fly The half or edge of a flag farthest away from the flagpole and this term also sometimes refers to the horizontal length of a flag. Hoist The half or edge of a flag nearest to the flagpole and this term also sometimes refers to the vertical width of a flag. Length The span of a flag along the side at right angles to the flagpole, width The span of a flag down the side parallel to the flagpole. Flags often inherit traits seen in traditional European heraldry designs and as a result patterns often share names, banderole or bannerol A small flag or streamer carried on the lance of a knight, or a long narrow flag flying from the mast-head of a ship. Banner Generically, a synonym for a flag of any kind, in heraldry, a flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms, but usually in a square or rectangular shape, also known as a banner of arms. Burgee A distinguishing flag of a recreational boating organisation, Civil ensign, merchant flag or merchant ensign A version of the national flag flown by civil ships to denote nationality. Civil flag A version of the flag flown by civilians on non-government installations or craft. Colour or color The flag of a military unit, courtesy flag or courtesy ensign A flag flown by a visiting ship in foreign waters as a token of respect. Ensign The flag of a ship or military unit, may also be used generically as a synonym for a flag of any kind. Fanion A small flag used by the French military, gonfalon, gonfanon or gonfalone A type of heraldic flag suspended from a crossbar. Guidon A small flag borne by a military unit, in Scots heraldry, a smaller version of the Standard. Pennon or pennant A flag larger at the hoist than at the fly, pipe banner A decorative flag for the Scottish Highland bagpipes. Prayer flag A type of flag found strung along mountain ridges and peaks in the Himalayas, rank flag or distinguishing flag The flag flown by a superior naval officer on his flagship or headquarters
2.
National flag
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A national flag is a flag that symbolizes a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can also be flown by citizens of the country, historically, flags originate as military standards, used as field signs. The practice of flying flags indicating the country of origin outside of the context of warfare became common with the flag, introduced during the age of sail. Most countries of Europe adopted a flag in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The specifications of the flag of Denmark were codified in 1748, the flag of Switzerland was introduced in 1889, also based on medieval war flags. The Netherlands introduced two national flags in 1813, the Ottoman flag was adopted in 1844. Other non-European powers followed the trend in the late 19th century, the flag of Japan being introduced in 1870, the Flag of the United States is not defined in the constitution but rather in a separate Flag Resolution passed in 1777. Minor design changes of national flags are passed on a legislative or executive level. A change in national flag is due to a change of regime. In such cases, the origins of the national flag. In such cases national flags acquire the status of a political symbol, the flag of Germany, for instance, was a tricolour of black-white-red under the German Empire, inherited from the North German Confederation. The Weimar Republic that followed adopted a black-red-gold tricolour, nazi Germany went back to black-white-red in 1933, and black-red-gold was reinstituted by the two successor states, West Germany and East Germany following World War II. Similarly the flag of Libya introduced with the creation of the Kingdom of Libya in 1951 was abandoned in 1969 with the coup led by Muammar Gaddafi. It was used again by National Transitional Council and by anti-Gaddafi forces during the Libyan Civil War in 2011 and officially adopted by the Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration. There are three types of national flag for use on land, and three for use at sea, though many countries use identical designs for several of these types of flag. On land, there is a distinction between civil flags, state flags, and war or military flags, state flags are those used officially by government agencies, whereas civil flags may be flown by anyone regardless of whether they are linked to government. War flags are used by organisations such as Armies, Marine Corps. In practice, many countries have identical flags for these three purposes, national flag is used as a vexillological term to refer to such a three-purpose flag
3.
Coats of arms of the Holy See and Vatican City
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The coats of arms of the Holy See and Vatican City State in the form that combines two crossed keys and a tiara used as a coat of arms of the Holy See have origins attested from the 14th century. The combination of one gold and one key is somewhat later. Ecclesiastical heraldry appears first in seals, nearly all vesica-shaped, the earliest blazoning of the arms of the Holy See is that found in Froissarts Chronicles of 1353, which describes them as gules two keys in saltire argent. The practice by which the key is placed in bend and the silver in bend sinister, was slow in establishing itself. The practice of placing a key in bend over another in bend sinister of silver is not found with any certainty before the time of Pius II. In his 1978 book, Heraldry in the Catholic Church, Archbishop Bruno Heim described the same arrangement. The arrangement of the keys in the Holy Sees coat of arms as was described in these sources distinguished it from that of Vatican City State by a reversing of the gold and silver keys. The Vatican itself now only uses the Holy See coat of arms in monochrome, and Insegne e simboli, araldica pubblica e privata medievale e moderna. Claudio Ceresa, on the hand, says the earliest known evidence of its adoption dates from the following century. The distinction between the coat of arms of the papacy and that of the territory ruled by it back at least to the 16th century. This statement is quoted with approval by Heim, the arms of the Papal States differed in having the umbraculum in place of the tiara, and were incorporated as the first quartering of the royal coat of arms of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. This coat of arms was not resumed for the territory over which the Popes temporal powers were restored in 1929 with the creation of Vatican City State. The holder of the title of Gonfalonier of the Church was entitled to include in his own arms the same design of the crossed keys, the coat of arms of Vatican City State is officially described, under the heading Annex B. The tiara is represented as white with golden crowns, galbreath and Insegne e simboli, araldica pubblica e privata medievale e moderna say it is attested from the previous century. The keys refer to the promise of Christ to Peter, I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven. While actual wearing of the Papal tiara has been discontinued by Pope John Paul I and his successors, a crown was added to the headgear of the Pope in 1130 to symbolize sovereignty over the Papal States. In 1301, Pope Boniface VIII, at time in conflict with Philip the Fair of France. In 1342, Pope Benedict XII added a crown to symbolize the superiority of papal religious authority over that of non-religious monarchs
4.
Vatican City
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Vatican City, officially Vatican City State or the State of Vatican City, is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of 842, however, formally it is not sovereign, with sovereignty being held by the Holy See, the only entity of public international law that has diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. It is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of Rome – the Pope, the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Vatican City is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin. According to the terms of the treaty, the Holy See has full ownership, exclusive dominion, within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the worlds most famous paintings and sculptures, the unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, the name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. Vatican is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the area the Romans called vaticanus ager. The official Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, although the Holy See and the Catholic Church use Ecclesiastical Latin in official documents, the Vatican City officially uses Italian. The Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanæ, this is used in documents by not just the Holy See. The name Vatican was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for an area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD40, her son, Emperor Caligula built in her gardens a circus for charioteers that was completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis, usually called, simply. Even before the arrival of Christianity, it is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of Rome had long considered sacred. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby, the particularly low quality of Vatican water, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial. The Vatican Obelisk was originally taken by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant and this area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD64. Ancient tradition holds that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down, opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Peters in the first half of the 4th century, the Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery
5.
History of the papacy
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The history of the papacy, the office held by the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church, according to Catholic doctrine, spans from the time of Peter to the present day. During the Early Church, the bishops of Rome enjoyed no temporal power until the time of Constantine, over time, the papacy consolidated its territorial claims to a portion of the peninsula known as the Papal States. Thereafter, the role of neighboring sovereigns was replaced by powerful Roman families during the saeculum obscurum, the Crescentii era, from 1048 to 1257, the papacy experienced increasing conflict with the leaders and churches of the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The latter culminated in the East–West Schism, dividing the Western Church, from 1257–1377, the pope, though the bishop of Rome, resided in Viterbo, Orvieto, and Perugia, and then Avignon. The return of the popes to Rome after the Avignon Papacy was followed by the Western Schism, the Renaissance Papacy is known for its artistic and architectural patronage, forays into European power politics, and theological challenges to papal authority. After the start of the Protestant Reformation, the Reformation Papacy, the popes during the Age of Revolution witnessed the largest expropriation of wealth in the churchs history, during the French Revolution and those that followed throughout Europe. The Roman Question, arising from Italian unification, resulted in the loss of the Papal States, Catholics recognize the pope as the successor to Saint Peter, whom Jesus designated as the rock upon which the Church was to be built. Although Peter never bore the title of pope, Catholics recognize him as the first pope and Bishop of Rome, because he had the office, protestants tend to deny that Peter and those claimed to be his immediate successors had universally recognized supreme authority over all the early churches. Many popes in the first three centuries of the Christian era are obscure figures, several suffered martyrdom along with members of their flock in periods of persecution. Most of them engaged in intense arguments with other bishops. None of this, however, has much to do with the pope, who did not even attend the Council, in fact. The Donation of Constantine, an 8th-century forgery used to enhance the prestige, the legend of the Donation claims that Constantine offered his crown to Sylvester I, and even that Sylvester baptized Constantine. In reality, Constantine was baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Arian bishop, although the Donation never occurred, Constantine did hand over the Lateran Palace to the bishop of Rome, and began the construction of Old St. Peters Basilica. The gift of the Lateran probably occurred during the reign of Miltiades, predecessor to Sylvester I, Old St. Peters was begun between 326 and 330 and took three decades to complete. The Ostrogothic Papacy period ran from 493 to 537, the papal election of March 483 was the first to take place without the existence of a Western Roman emperor. The papacy was strongly influenced by the Ostrogothic Kingdom, if the pope was not outright appointed by the Ostrogothic King, the selection and administration of popes during this period was strongly influenced by Theodoric the Great and his successors Athalaric and Theodahad. This period terminated with Justinian Is conquest of Rome during the Gothic War, the role of the Ostrogoths became clear in the first schism, when, on November 22,498, two men were elected pope. The subsequent triumph of Pope Symmachus over Antipope Laurentius is the first recorded example of simony in papal history, Theodoric was tolerant towards the Catholic Church and did not interfere in dogmatic matters
6.
Duchy of Rome
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The Duchy of Rome was a state within the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. Like other Byzantine states in Italy, it was ruled by a functionary with the title dux. The duchy often came into conflict with the Papacy over supremacy within Rome, the duchy was founded by the conquest of Emperor Justinian I in 533 AD. After the founding of the Papal States in 751, the title of Duke of Rome fell into disuse, the Duchy of Rome was founded by Justinian in approximately 533 AD as part of the Byzantine conquest of Italy. The Duchy was secured in the outcome of the Gothic War, the city of Rome itself was the subject of multiple battles before the campaign ended in Byzantine victory and possession of most of the Italian peninsula. There the Pope led the opposition to the Lombards, because of his restoration activities, Justinian has sometimes been called the last Roman in modern historiography. This ambition was expressed by the recovery of the territories of the defunct western Roman empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, if this strategic connection were broken, it was evident that Rome and Ravenna could not singly maintain themselves for any length of time. This was also recognized by the Lombards, the same narrow strip of land broke the connection between their Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento and the main portion of the kings territories in the north. The Lombards made multiple attacks against this front to wrest control of the peninsula from the Byzantines, in the beginning the popes were able repeatedly to repel these attacks and secure territory for Rome. In 728 the Lombard King Liutprand took the Castle of Sutri, however, Liutprand, softened by the entreaties of Pope Gregory II, restored Sutri as a gift to the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. This expression of the Liber pontificalis was erroneously interpreted to mean that in this gift the beginning of the States of the Church was to be recognized. This is incorrect inasmuch as the Popes continued to acknowledge the imperial government and it is true, however, that here for the first time the association of ideas on which the States of the Church were to be constructed is met. The Pope asked the Lombards for the return of Sutri for the sake of the Princes of the Apostles, the pious Liutprand was undoubtedly susceptible to such pleas, but never to any consideration for the Greeks. For this reason he gave Sutri to Peter and Paul, that he might not expose himself to their punishment, what the Pope then did with it would be immaterial to him. The belief that the Roman territory was defended by the Prince of the Apostles became more and more prevalent, in 738 the Lombard duke Transamund II of Spoleto captured the Castle of Gallese, which protected the road to Perugia to the north of Nepi. Pope Gregory III made a payment to the duke to restore the castle to him. The pope then sought an alliance with Duke Transamund to protect himself against Liutprand, however, Liutprand conquered Spoleto, besieged Rome, laid waste the Duchy of Rome, and seized four important frontier fortresses, thereby cutting off communication with Perugia and Ravenna
7.
Donation of Pepin
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The Donation of Pepin in 756 provided a legal basis for the erection of the Papal States, which extended the temporal rule of the Popes beyond the duchy of Rome. In 751, Aistulf, king of the Lombards, conquered what remained of the exarchate of Ravenna, in 752, Aistulf demanded the submission of Rome and a tribute of one gold solidus per capita. Pope Stephen II and a Roman envoy, John the Silentiary, tried by negotiations and bribes to convince Aistulf to back down. When this failed, Stephen sent envoys to Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, with a letter requesting his support, at the time, the Franks were on good terms with the Lombards. In 753, John the Silentiary returned to Rome with an order that Pope Stephen accompany him to meet Aistulf in the Lombard capital of Pavia. The pope duly requested and received a safe-conduct from the Lombards, with the Frankish envoys who had by then arrived, the pope and the imperial envoy set out for Pavia on 14 October 753. The Roman magnates did not accompany them past the border, John the Silentiary did not accompany them. This was the first time a pope had crossed the Alps, Pope Stephen met Pepin the Short at Quierzy-sur-Oise in 753. The Pope was first met by Pepins eleven-year-old son, Charles, at Quierzy the Frankish nobles finally gave their consent to a campaign in Lombardy. Roman Catholic tradition asserts that it was then and there that Pepin executed in writing a promise to convey to the Papacy certain territories that were going to be wrested from the Lombards. No original document has been preserved, but later 8th century sources quote from it, the gift included Lombard conquests in the Romagna and in the Duchy of Spoleto and Benevento, and the Pentapolis in the Marche. The Donations made the Pope for the first time as a temporal ruler and this strip of territory extended diagonally across Italy from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic. Pepin confirmed his Donations in Rome in 756, and in 774 his son Charlemagne again confirmed and reasserted the Donation
8.
Papal States
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The Papal States, officially the State of the Church, were territories in the Italian Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope, from the 8th century until 1870. They were among the states of Italy from roughly the 8th century until the Italian Peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. At their zenith, they covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Romagna and these holdings were considered to be a manifestation of the temporal power of the pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy. By 1861, much of the Papal States territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy, only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Popes temporal control. In 1870, the pope lost Lazio and Rome and had no physical territory at all, Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ended the crisis between unified Italy and the Vatican by signing the Lateran Treaty, granting the Vatican City State sovereignty. The Papal States were also known as the Papal State, the territories were also referred to variously as the State of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States. For its first 300 years the Catholic Church was persecuted and unrecognized and this system began to change during the reign of the emperor Constantine I, who made Christianity legal within the Roman Empire, and restoring to it any properties that had been confiscated. The Lateran Palace was the first significant new donation to the Church, other donations followed, primarily in mainland Italy but also in the provinces of the Roman Empire. But the Church held all of these lands as a private landowner, the seeds of the Papal States as a sovereign political entity were planted in the 6th century. Beginning In 535, the Byzantine Empire, under emperor Justinian I, launched a reconquest of Italy that took decades and devastated Italys political, just as these wars wound down, the Lombards entered the peninsula from the north and conquered much of the countryside. While the popes remained Byzantine subjects, in practice the Duchy of Rome, nevertheless, the pope and the exarch still worked together to control the rising power of the Lombards in Italy. As Byzantine power weakened, though, the took a ever larger role in defending Rome from the Lombards. In practice, the papal efforts served to focus Lombard aggrandizement on the exarch, a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States was the agreement over boundaries embodied in the Lombard king Liutprands Donation of Sutri to Pope Gregory II. When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks. In 751, Pope Zachary had Pepin the Younger crowned king in place of the powerless Merovingian figurehead king Childeric III, zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, later granted Pepin the title Patrician of the Romans. Pepin led a Frankish army into Italy in 754 and 756, Pepin defeated the Lombards – taking control of northern Italy – and made a gift of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, the precise nature of the relationship between the popes and emperors – and between the Papal States and the Empire – is disputed. Events in the 9th century postponed the conflict, the Holy Roman Empire in its Frankish form collapsed as it was subdivided among Charlemagnes grandchildren
9.
Capture of Rome
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On 27 March 1861, the Parliament declared Rome the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. However, the Italian government could not take its seat in Rome because it did not control the territory. In addition, a French garrison was maintained in the city by Napoleon III of France in support of Pope Pius IX, who was determined not to hand over temporal power in the States of the Church. In July 1870, at the very last moment of the Churchs rule over Rome, in July 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began. In early August, Napoleon III recalled his garrison from Rome, in the earlier Austro-Prussian War Italy had allied with Prussia and Italian public opinion favoured the Prussian side at the start of the war. The removal of the French garrison eased tensions between Italy and France, Italy remained neutral in the Franco-Prussian War. With the French garrison gone, widespread public demonstrations demanded that the Italian government take Rome, but Rome remained under French protection on paper, therefore an attack would still have been regarded as an act of war against the French Empire. Until events elsewhere took their course the Italians were unwilling to provoke Napoleon, the new French government was clearly in no position to retaliate against Italy, nor did it possess the political will to protect the Popes position. Along with the letter, the count carried a document that Lanza had prepared, the Pope would retain the inviolability and prerogatives attaching to him as a sovereign. The Leonine City would remain under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the Pontiff. According to Raffaele De Cesare, The Pope’s reception of San Martino was unfriendly, Pius IX allowed violent outbursts to escape him. Throwing the King’s letter upon the table he exclaimed, Fine loyalty and you are all a set of vipers, of whited sepulchres, and wanting in faith. He was perhaps alluding to other letters received from the King, after, growing calmer, he exclaimed, I am no prophet, nor son of a prophet, but I tell you, you will never enter Rome. San Martino was so mortified that he left the next day, several times during his pontificate, Pius IX considered leaving Rome. As the frequency of protests against the Papal States increased across the Italian peninsula. Palma, a prelate, who was standing at a window, was shot. On February 9,1849, democratic revolutionaries of the new Italian republic seized Rome, on 12 April 1850, Pius IX returned to Rome, no longer a political liberal supporting constitutional republics. A later occurrence was in 1862, when Giuseppe Garibaldi was in Sicily gathering volunteers for a campaign to take Rome under the slogan Roma o Morte
10.
Prisoner in the Vatican
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A prisoner in the Vatican or prisoner of the Vatican is how Pope Pius IX was described following the capture of Rome by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy on 20 September 1870. Part of the process of Italian unification, the citys capture ended the millennial temporal rule of the popes over central Italy, the appellation is also applied to Piuss successors through Pope Pius XI. The Papal States were able to fend off efforts to conquer them largely through the influence over the leaders of stronger European powers such as France. One week after entering Rome, the Italian troops had taken the city save for the Apostolic Palace. For the next 59 years, the popes refused to leave the Vatican in order to any appearance of accepting the authority wielded by the Italian government over Rome as a whole. During this period, popes also refused to appear at Saint Peters Square or at the balcony of the Vatican Basilica facing it, as the square in front of the Basilica was occupied by Italian troops. During this period, popes granted the Urbi et Orbi blessings from a balcony facing a courtyard, or from inside the Basilica, the period ended in 1929, when the Lateran Treaty created the modern state of Vatican City. They claimed that sovereignty was needed so that a civil government would never attempt to interfere in the governance of the universal Roman Church. As a result of the crisis, Pope Pius IX excommunicated the King of Italy, especially in the strongly Roman Catholic rural areas of Italy, there was great tension between Church and State. The newly unified Kingdom of Italy did not recognize the validity of Church weddings, while the Church maintained that the Kingdom was illegitimate, however, no diplomatic relations existed between the Holy See and the Italian state. The stand-off was ended on 11 February 1929, when the Lateran Pacts created a new microstate, that of Vatican City, and opened the way for diplomatic relations between Italy and the Holy See. The Holy See in turn recognized the Kingdom of Italy, with Rome as its capital, properties of the Holy See Index of Vatican City-related articles Kertzer, David
11.
Lateran Treaty
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The Lateran Treaty was one of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 or Lateran Accords, agreements made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See, settling the Roman Question. They are named after the Lateran Palace, where they were signed on February 11,1929, the Italian parliament ratified them on June 7,1929. Italy was then under a Fascist government, but the democratic governments have all upheld the treaty. It recognized the Vatican as an independent state, with Prime Minister Benito Mussolini agreeing to give the church financial refund, in 1947, the Lateran Pacts were incorporated into the democratic Constitution of Italy. The Lateran Pacts are often presented as three treaties, a 27-article treaty of conciliation, a 3-article financial convention, and a 45-article concordat, however, the website of the Holy See presents the pacts as two, making the financial convention an annex of the treaty of conciliation. Peters Basilica did not come to pass, the nascent Kingdom of Italy invaded and occupied Romagna in 1860, leaving only Latium in the Popes domains. Latium, including Rome itself, was occupied and annexed in 1870, for the following sixty years, relations between the Papacy and the Italian government were hostile, and the status of the Pope became known as the Roman Question. The agreements were signed in the Lateran Palace, hence the name by which they are known, the agreements included a political treaty which created the state of the Vatican City and guaranteed full and independent sovereignty to the Holy See. The Pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations and to abstention from mediation in a controversy unless specifically requested by all parties. The attached financial agreement was accepted as settlement of all the claims of the Holy See against Italy arising from the loss of power of the Papal States in 1870. To commemorate the conclusion of the negotiations, Mussolini commissioned the Via della Conciliazione. The Constitution of the Italian Republic, adopted in 1947, states that relations between the State and the Catholic Church are regulated by the Lateran Treaties, in 1984, an agreement was signed, revising the concordat. As of 2013, there are ten other groups with access. The revised concordat regulated the conditions under which civil effects are accorded to church marriages, in 2008, it was announced that the Vatican would no longer immediately adopt all Italian laws, citing conflict over right-to-life issues following the trial and ruling of the Eluana Englaro case. Italys anti-Jewish laws of 1938 prohibited marriages between Jews and non-Jews, including Catholics, the Vatican viewed this as a violation of the Concordat, which gave the church the sole right to regulate marriages involving Catholics. Article 34 of the Concordat had also specified that marriages performed by the Catholic Church would always be considered valid by civil authorities, the Holy See understood this to apply to all Catholic Church marriages in Italy regardless of the faith of those being married. Properties of the Holy See List of Sovereigns of the Vatican City State Reichskonkordat, Christianity In a Revolutionary Age A History of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Century, Vol 4 The 20th Century In Europe pp 32–35,153,156,371 Riccards, Michael. Vicars of Christ, Popes, Power, and Politics in the Modern World, under His Very Windows, The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy
12.
Vatican Historical Museum
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The Vatican Historical Museum is one of the sections of the Vatican Museums. It was founded in 1973 at the behest of Pope Paul VI, in 1987 it was moved to the main floor of the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran and opened in March 1991. Also on display on the floor are the papamobili, carriages and motorcars of Popes and Cardinals. The Lateran Palace, which is next to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran to its left within the courtyard of the church with an entry gate, is a large apartment complex of the Pope. Domenico Fontana was the architect of this palace which was built to his design in 1586, right at the entrance the staircase is a massive and impressive structure with the ceiling decorated with frescoes. It had been refurbished by Pope Paul IV into ten halls, the hall known as the Conciliation, and was provided with allegories related to the papacy of Sixtus V. The other halls were named Constantine, Hall of Apostles, Emperors Room, Popes Room, the fresco decorations were on themes of the History of Rome, episodes of the Bible related to Daniel, David, Solomon, Samuel and others, and also related to the Gospel. Several colourful tapestries and Goblins added to the elegance of the halls. Before the History Museum decided to relocate here to a more luxurious locale, since 1991, these rooms have been exclusively used as exhibition or display rooms for the exhibits moved from the Vatican Museums. The museum has been arranged into two wings, the second wing is an annex wing on the ground floor where the papamobili are on display, these consist of decorated carriages, saddles, sedans, wagons and the first cars used by the Popes. Index of Vatican City-related articles Media related to Vatican Historical Museum at Wikimedia Commons
13.
Vatican City in World War II
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Vatican City pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII. Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from 1943, the Vatican organised extensive humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the conflict. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 with Italy recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City and it declared Vatican City a neutral country in international relations, and required the Pope to abstain even from mediation unless requested by all parties. In 1939, the city state was recognized by thirty-eight nations, with a corps of thirteen full ambassadors. As early as April 1939, Pius XII announced a plan for peace, the first leader contacted was Benito Mussolini, via Pius XIIs usual go-between, Jesuit Father Tacchi Venturi. With Mussolinis approval, the next day Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione contacted the nuncios in Paris, Warsaw, and Berlin and the Apostolic Delegate in London. The proposed Vatican meeting accomplished little of substance, if there was any coherent position espoused by the Vatican among its various communications. In his 24 August 1939 Radio Message, just a week before war, Pius warned, The danger is imminent, nothing is lost with peace, all can be lost with war. With Poland overrun, but France and the Low Countries yet to be attacked, despite the early collapse of peace hopes, the Taylor mission continued at the Vatican. Early on, Pius XII believed that the destruction of Poland meant the end of the war. Summi Pontificatus, issued 20 October 1939, was the first papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII, According to Chadwick, Summi Pontificatus exemplified both the hesitancy and the care of the pontiff. During the drafting of the letter, the Second World War commenced with the Nazi/Soviet invasion of Catholic Poland, with Italy not yet an ally of Hitler in the war, Italians were called upon to remain faithful to the Church. The Pope wrote of anti-Christian movements bringing forth a crop poignant disasters and called for love, mercy and compassion against the deluge of discord. Following themes addressed in Non abbiamo bisogno, Mit brennender Sorge and Divini redemptoris, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God. Against the invasion of Poland and killing of civilians he wrote, In Poland, in 1942, Pius XII delivered a Christmas message over Vatican Radio, which voiced concern for the victims of the Nazis genocidal policies. From May 1942, the Nazis had commenced their industrialized slaughter of the Jews of Europe - the Final Solution, gypsies and others were also marked for extermination. The Pope addressed the racial persecutions in the terms, The New York Times called Pius a lonely voice crying out of the silence of a continent. The speech was made in the context of the total domination of Europe by the armies of Nazi Germany
14.
Acta Apostolicae Sedis
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Acta Apostolicae Sedis, often cited as AAS, is the official gazette of the Holy See, appearing about twelve times a year. It was established by Pope Pius X on 29 September 1908 with the decree Promulgandi Pontificias Constitutiones and it contains all the principal decrees, encyclical letters, decisions of Roman congregations, and notices of ecclesiastical appointments. The laws contained in it are to be considered promulgated when published and it replaced a similar publication that had existed since 1865, under the title of Acta Sanctae Sedis. As indicated above, the Acta Sanctae Sedis ceased publication four years later, Acta Apostolicae Sedis is published in Latin. In accordance with paragraph 2 of the Legge sulle fonti del diritto of 7 June 1929, index of Vatican City-related articles Acta Apostolicae Sedis
15.
Fundamental Law of Vatican City State
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The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 26 November 2000, is the main governing document of the Vaticans civil entities. It obtained the force of law of 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, the law consists of 20 Articles. 1 §1 declares that “The Supreme Pontiff, Sovereign of Vatican City State, has the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial powers. ”3 §2 provides for the case of absence or impedance of the President, and decrees that the Commission would be presided over by the first of the Cardinal Members. 3 §3 describes who convokes and presides over the meetings of the Commission and says that “the Secretary General and the Vice Secretary General participate in them with a consultative vote. ”4 §1 demands that the Commission exercise its power within the limits of the law concerning the sources of law, according to the indications to be given in future Articles and its proper Regulations. §3 says “The draft laws are submitted in advance, through the Secretariat of State, for the consideration of the Supreme Pontiff. ”5 §1 gives executive power to the President of the Commission, in conformity with the Fundamental Law and with the other normative dispositions in force at Vatican City State. §2 gives the President the assistance of the Secretary General and the Vice Secretary General in the exercise of Executive power. §3 says that “Questions of greater importance are submitted by the President to the Commission for its study. ”6 declares that “Matters of greater importance are dealt with together with the Secretariat of State. ”7 §1 gives the President of the Commission the power to issue Ordinances, putting into effect legislative and regulatory norms. §3 reserves the power to issue general Regulations to the Commission,8 §1 declares that, without prejudice to the primacy of the Supreme Pontiff, and what is established in Art. 2 regarding the Secretariat of State, the President of the Commission represents the State, §2 provides for the President to delegate legal representation to the General Secretary for ordinary administrative activity. 9 §1 states the responsibilities of the Secretary General,1 and he assists the President of the Commission in his functions. §2 gives the Secretary General the right to take the place of the President of the Commission when the President is absent or impeded, §2 gives the Vice Secretary General the right to take the place of the Secretary General when the Secretary General is absent or impeded. §2 grants the Secretary General and the Vice Secretary General the right to part in the Council. 12 prescribes that the budgets and reports of the Vatican. §2 provides for the consultation of the Councillors both individually and collegially,14 gives the President of the Commission the right, in addition to using the Corps of Vigilance, to request the assistance of the Pontifical Swiss Guard for the purpose of security and policing. 15 §1 asserts that, in the name of the Pope, §2 gives the power of regulation of the competence of the individual organs to the Civil Laws of Vatican City State. §3 demands that acts of jurisdiction must be carried out within the territory of the Vatican. §2 states that “Hierarchical recourse precludes a judicial action in the matter, unless the Supreme Pontiff authorizes it in the individual case. ”§2 gives the Court of Appeal the faculty to hear cases of recourse against disciplinary provisions taken in regard to the employees of the State. 19 reserves the faculty to grant amnesties, indults, remissions,20 §1 enumerates the design of the flag of Vatican City State
16.
Capital punishment in Vatican City
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Capital punishment in Vatican City was legal between 1929 and 1969, reserved for attempted assassination of the Pope, but has never been applied there. Executions were carried out elsewhere in the Papal States during their existence, the death penalty had support from early Catholic theologians, though some of them such as Saint Ambrose encouraged members of the clergy not to pronounce or carry out capital punishment. Saint Augustine answered objections to capital punishment rooted in the first commandment in The City of God, thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus argued that civil authority to carry out capital punishment was supported by scripture. The Roman Catechism codified the teaching that God had entrusted civil authorities with the power over life, the Lateran Treaty of 1929 copied from the contemporaneous Italian legal code, providing for capital punishment for anyone who attempted to assassinate the pope within Vatican City. Article 8 of the Lateran Treaty provides, There were no attempted assassinations of the pope within Vatican City while the statute was on the books. It was no longer in force in 1981, when Mehmet Ali Ağca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II, the change came to public attention only in January 1971 after reporters accused Paul VI of hypocrisy for his criticisms of planned executions in Spain and the Soviet Union
17.
Legal status of the Holy See
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For him, the Holy See is unquestionably a sovereign subject of international law but of a predominantly religious nature. For some authors, the current legal personality of the Holy See is a remnant of its preeminent role in medieval politics, for others, the international personality of the Holy See arises solely from its recognition by other states. For him, though, the international personality thus conferred is effective only towards those states prepared to enter diplomatic relations with it. Crawford similarly believes that the recognition of a number of states is important evidence to acknowledge the legal personality of the Holy See, so that, today, it cannot be denied. For a third group of authors, the legal personality of the Holy See is based mostly. The Lateran Treaty itself seems to support this view, the Lateran Treaty marks the resumption of the formal membership, interrupted in 1871, of the Holy See in the society of states. Oppenheim goes further and denies a separate legal personality for the Vatican City State, for him, the composite of the Holy See plus the Vatican City constitutes just one international person, see p.328, Kunz sharply criticized this view. The United States, for instance, suspended relations with the Holy See when it lost the Papal States. Similarly Oppenheim believed that the personality of the Papal States became extinct in 1870. No State has supported this initiative, on the contrary, the United Nations General Assembly confirmed and raised further the status of the Holy See as an observer within the UN, through its Resolution 58/314 of 16 July 2004
18.
Tribunal of Vatican City State
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The Law of Vatican City State consists of many forms, the most important of which is the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State. The Code of Penal Procedure governs Tribunals and the Lateran Treaty governs relations with the Republic of Italy. The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 26 November 2000, consists of 20 Articles and is the constitutional law of the Vatican City State. It obtained the force of law of 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, the sole judge has to be a Vatican citizen and he can simultaneously serve as a member of the tribunal. The tribunal itself consists of a president and three other judges, a promoter of justice serves as attorney both at the tribunal and at the court of the sole judge. The members of the tribunal, the judge and the promoter of justice are all lay jurists and are appointed by the pope. The Court of Appeal consists of the president and three other judges, the members of the Court of Appeal are appointed by the pope for a term of five years and are both clerics and lay persons. All courts have their seat at the Palazzo del Tribunale at Piazza Santa Marta behind Saint Peters Basilica, most of the statutory law is based on the Italian code from 1889. It is outdated in many ways and this was amended in a major fashion in 2013 to include a number of United Nations Conventions the state has signed over the years, as well as bringing it up to date. The penal code now includes specifics defining money laundering, explicit listing of sexual crimes, since life imprisonment was abolished by Pope Francis in 2013, the maximum penalty is 30 to 35 years of imprisonment. In 2008, the Vatican announced that it no longer automatically adopt new Italian laws. The announcement came in the wake of conflict over right-to-life issues following the Eluana Englaro case, existing law provided that Italian laws were accepted automatically except on bilateral treaties or those that have a sharp divergence with basic canon law. Under the new procedure, the Vatican would examine Italian laws before deciding whether to adopt them, crime in Vatican City Federico Cammeo Index of Vatican City-related articles Researching the Law of Vatican City State Law Library of Congress Guide to Law Online, Holy See
19.
Alperin v. Vatican Bank
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Alperin v. Vatican Bank was an unsuccessful class action suit by Holocaust survivors brought against the Vatican Bank and the Franciscan Order filed in San Francisco, California on November 15,1999. That ruling attracted attention as a precedent at the intersection of the Alien Tort Claims Act, no part of the claim, therefore, ever came to trial and none of the plaintiffs allegations of fact were ever established in Court. Although this gold would be hundreds of thousands of 2008 US dollars, it allegedly constituted only a small percentage of the gold looted during World War II. According to Phayer, top Vatican personnel would have known the whereabouts of the gold, the lawsuit was made possible by a 1997 executive order of U. S. President Bill Clinton that directed all branches of the US government to open their World War II records to scrutiny. The order came in the aftermath of evidence that Swiss banks were destroying evidence of deposit records by Jews, fourteen European nations, Canada, and Argentina followed suit, but Vatican City did not. The class action was brought on behalf of all Serbs, Jews, and former Soviet Union citizens, the named plaintiffs claimed to be victims of personal or property crimes committed by the Ustaše. Four organizations that represent holocaust survivors or human rights issues were named as plaintiffs, surviving victims of the Ustaše and their next of kin living in California brought a class action suit against the Vatican bank and others in US federal court, Alperin v. Vatican Bank. However, the total potential class, if the Court had recognised the claim, would have included over 300,000 former slave and forced laborers, prisoners, concentration camp, and ghetto survivors. Causes of action included conversion, unjust enrichment, restitution, the right to an accounting, subject-matter jurisdiction was asserted under federal law, California state law, international law, and common law. Since the case was dismissed at a stage, these claims were never proved. S. Former OSS agent William Gowen also made a deposition as a witness that in 1946 Colonel Ivan Babić transported 10 truckloads of gold from Switzerland to the Pontifical College. The principal movers were allegedly Fr, dominik Mandic OFM, and the war criminal Ante Pavelić. The named defendants included the Vatican Bank, but not Vatican City, the Ninth Circuit accepted for the purposes of the motion to dismiss the plaintiffs argument that the Vatican City and the Vatican Bank are separate institutions. The Vatican Bank and Order of Friars Minor filed separate motions to dismiss, the Vaticans lawyers did not contest the allegation that a large shipment of gold arrived by truck in Rome in 1946, although they did assert that the plaintiffs had put forward conclusory facts. The defense did argue that there was no connection between the losses of the plaintiffs and the gold deposited in the Vatican bank. Finally, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs did not have standing because the Vatican was only a party to the plaintiffs injury. The original lawsuit was filed in the District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco in 1999, the parties agreed in the district court to limit their initial arguments to the question of whether the case constituted a political question. The district judge dismissed the case in 2003 on the grounds that it constituted a political question, in a separate opinion, the district court dismissed the claims against the Croatian Liberation Movement on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction
20.
Doe v. Holy See
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John V. Doe v. Holy See is a lawsuit involving the sovereign immunity status of the Holy See in relation to the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States. The threshold question of law in the case is whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allows the Holy See, U. S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman has ruled that the Holy See cannot be held liable because there was no relationship of employment in the case. Jeff Anderson, attorney for the plaintiff, said he would appeal the decision, the case was finally dismissed in August 2013. The lawsuit was brought in federal court in Oregon, plaintiff John Doe alleged abuse by Father Andrew Ronan OSM in Portland and this allegedly took place c.1965 after Ronan was moved from Ireland after admitting abuse there. The Holy See moved to dismiss the claims against it, invoking its immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, when the District Court rejected that motion, the defendant took an interlocutory appeal. Roman canonists have stated before that the Second Vatican Council and Code of Canon Law gave full authority to bishops within their capacities as diocesan administrators, in 2011, Jeffrey S. Lena commented, The plaintiffs lawyers never had support for their calumnious accusations against the Holy See. They have nonetheless chosen to misuse the system as a vehicle to pursue a broader agenda – a decision that has misled the public. U. S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that the Holy See cannot be liable because there was no relationship of employment in the case. Jeff Anderson, attorney for the plaintiff, said he would appeal the decision, the case was dismissed in August 2013. Alperin v. Vatican Bank Legal status of the Holy See Docket for 09-1 at the U. S. Supreme Court Vaticans right to immunity being tested — Irish Times article
21.
Pontifical Swiss Guard
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See Swiss Guards for the Swiss Guards in France and other countries. The Pontifical Swiss Guard is small force maintained by the Holy See, it is responsible for the safety of the Pope, the Swiss Guard serves as the de facto military of Vatican City. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, the Pontifical Swiss Guard is among the oldest military units in continuous operation, the dress uniform is of blue, red, orange and yellow with a distinctly Renaissance appearance. The modern guard has the role of bodyguard of the Pope, the Swiss Guard is equipped with traditional weapons, such as the halberd, as well as with modern firearms. Recruits to the guards must be unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 19 and 30 years of age who have completed training with the Swiss Armed Forces. The Pontifical Swiss Guard has its origins in the 15th century, Pope Sixtus IV had already made an alliance with the Swiss Confederacy and built barracks in Via Pellegrino after foreseeing the possibility of recruiting Swiss mercenaries. The pact was renewed by Innocent VIII in order to use them against the Duke of Milan, Alexander VI later actually used the Swiss mercenaries during their alliance with the King of France. The mercenaries enlisted when they heard King Charles VIII of France was going to war with Naples. Among the participants in the war against Naples was Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the future Pope Julius II, the expedition failed, in part thanks to new alliances made by Alexander VI against the French. When Cardinal della Rovere became Pope Julius II in 1503, he asked the Swiss Diet to provide him with a constant corps of 200 Swiss mercenaries. This was made possible through the financing of the German merchants from Augsburg, Bavaria, Ulrich and Jacob Fugger, Pope Julius II later granted them the title Defenders of the Churchs freedom. The force has varied greatly in size over the years and has even been disbanded, the last stand battlefield is located on the left side of St Peters Basilica, close to the Campo Santo Teutonico. Clement VII was forced to replace the Swiss Guard by a contingent of 200 German mercenaries, ten years later, under Pope Paul III, the Swiss Guard was reinstated, under commander Jost von Meggen. However, twelve members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard of Pius V served as part of the Swiss Guard of admiral Marcantonio Colonna in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The office of commander of the Papal Guard came to be an honour in the Catholic part of the Swiss Confederacy. It became strongly associated with the family of Lucerne, Pfyffer von Altishofen. Between 1652 and 1847, nine out a total of ten commanders were members of this family, in 1798, commander Franz Alois Pfyffer von Altishofen went into exile with the deposed Pius VI. After the death of the pope on 29 August 1799, the Swiss Guard was disbanded, in 1808, Rome was again captured by the French and the guard was disbanded again
22.
Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State
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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 officially part of the armed forces, by the early twentieth century they had become solely engaged in fire fighting and civil defence. In 1941 Pope Pius XII refounded the service as the Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State, politically, the Vatican fire brigade has been under the control of the Directorate for Security Services and Civil Defence, since this body was legally established on 16 July 2002. The Directorate is a division of the Governorate of Vatican City State, as with all Vatican City State forces, the Pope is the head of state and chief commander of the Corps, and takes a direct interest in its operation. In 1941 the Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State consisted of just 10 firefighters, the modern service has expanded three-fold, with a current deployment of 30 firefighters. They work in a shift pattern, with three eight-hour shifts in each day. Fire Brigade Headquarters is located at Belvedere Courtyard, a location within the Vatican City State. Belvedere Courtyard is also the only fire station of the Corps. The Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State is a modern and well-equipped national fire brigade, whose members wear protective fire-fighting uniform and they are equipped to deal with a range of fire-fighting, rescue, first aid, and civil defence scenarios. Their key equipment is a fleet of vehicles, as below. All fire appliances utilise vehicle types capable of negotiating narrow streets, the principal fire tender and rescue tender have specially narrow bodies to facilitate access
23.
Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City
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The Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State is the gendarmerie, or police and security force, of Vatican City and the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See. The 130-member corps is led by an Inspector General, currently Domenico Giani, in 1816, after the dissolution of the Napoleonic empire, Pope Pius VII founded the Papal Carabinieri Corps for the service of the Papal States. In 1849, under Pope Pius IX, it was renamed, first as the Papal Velites Regiment and it was charged with ensuring public security, and passed from dependence on the Ministry of the Army to dependence on the Cardinal Secretary of State. It took a part in the battles that finally led to the complete conquest of the Papal States by the victorious Kingdom of Italy. After the capture of Rome in 1870, a group of members of the Corps continued to serve in the papal residence. In 1929, the force was expanded to deal with its duties in the newly founded Vatican City State and in the buildings and its name was changed in 1991 to Security Corps of Vatican City State and in 2002 to Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State. The corps is responsible for security, public order, border control, traffic control, criminal investigation, the Vatican Gendarmerie includes two special units, the Rapid Intervention Group and an anti-sabotage unit. Since 2000 an operations and control room, staffed 24 hours a day, while the protection of the Popes person is primarily the Swiss Guards responsibility, the gendarmes ensure public order at the audiences, meetings and ceremonies at which he is present. In Italian territory and in countries, this is done in liaison with the local police authorities. To qualify for enrollment as a gendarme, a person must be a male between the ages of 21 to 24 of good health and a practising Catholic. There are also minimum requirements of height and education, the Gendarmeries patron saint is Saint Michael the Archangel. Since 1977, the oratory of San Pellegrino in Vaticano serves as the chapel of the Gendarmerie, the church previously served as the chapel of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. The Band of the Gendarmerie also serves as the marching band of Vatican City. The Commandant of the Gendarmerie Corps is head of the Directorate of Security and Civil Protection Services, Security in Vatican City is also provided by the Pontifical Swiss Guard, a military unit of the Holy See, not Vatican City State. The Swiss Guard are responsible for the security of the Pope, dignitaries, the Swiss Guard have maintained a centuries long tradition of carrying swords and spears, unlike the Gendarmerie Corps. The Gendarmerie is equipped with the Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol in 9 mm Parabellum as the standard issue weapon and they also have more powerful weapons, such as the Beretta M12 and the Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun, a weapon also used by the Italian police. Against possible riots, they are supplied with batons, tasers, pepper sprays, for the elite-unit Rapid Intervention Group, members are equipped with the Carbon 15 carbine and Heckler & Koch FABARM FP6 shotguns. In September 2012, the Gendarmerie was equipped with one Kangoo Maxi ZE electric car, the Gendarmerie also recently received a pair of Ducati police motorbikes
24.
Politics of Vatican City
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The pope is elected in the Conclave, composed of all the cardinal electors, after the death or resignation of the previous Pope. The Conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel, where all the electors are locked in until the election for which a majority is required. Peters façade to introduce the new pope with the famous Latin sentence Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, 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. It is therefore distinct from the Vatican City state, which was created in 1929. It has formal relations with 179 nations. The State of Vatican City, for its part, is recognized under international law as a sovereign territory, unlike the Holy See, it does not receive or send diplomatic representatives, and the Holy See acts on its behalf in international affairs. As with almost all monarchies, the executive, legislative and judicial power of government reside in the crown, however, as with many monarchies, the pope exercises this power through other organs which act on his behalf and in his name. The pope commonly delegates the internal administration of Vatican City to various bodies, the pope delegates legislative authority for the state to the unicameral Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State. This commission was established in 1939 by Pope Pius XII and it consists of seven Cardinals appointed by the pope for five-year terms. Laws passed by the Commission must be approved by the pope through the Secretariat of State prior to being published, the President of the Pontifical Commission is also the President of the Governorate of Vatican City, to whom the pope delegates executive authority for the state. The president is assisted by a Secretary General and a Vice Secretary General, each of these officers is appointed by the pope for a five-year term. Actions of the President must be approved by the Commission, various departments and offices report to the Governorate, handling such issues as communications, internal security, fire protection, and the Vatican Museums. The Corpo della Gendarmeria is the security and police force, not the Pontifical Swiss Guard. The Pope is ex officio sovereign of the Vatican City State and he delegates executive authority to the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, who is ex officio President of the Governorate. The president is appointed by the Pope for a five-year term, Vatican City is a member of CEPT, Eutelsat, International Grains Council, Intelsat, ITU and UPU. Vatican City does not have diplomatic relations with other states. Its foreign relations are managed by the Holy See, See Holy See#Relationship with the Vatican City and other territories. A unicameral Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, appointed by the Pope, operates as legislative branch, proposing law, the Councillors of the State give their consultation in the drafting of legislation
25.
Vatican Secret Archives
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The Vatican Secret Archives is the central repository in the Vatican City for all of the acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope, as Sovereign of Vatican City and having primal incumbency, owns the archives until his death or resignation, the archives also contain the state papers, correspondence, papal account books, and many other documents which the church has accumulated over the centuries. The use of the secret in the title Vatican Secret Archives does not denote the modern meaning of confidentiality. Parts of the Secret Archives remain truly secret, however, some materials are prohibited for outside viewing, including everything dated after 1939. The Vatican Secret Archives have been estimated to contain 85 kilometres of shelving, indexes must be consulted in the Index Room and replaced in their original location. Publication of the indexes, in part or as a whole, is forbidden, the Archives support their own photographic and conservation studios. According to the website of the Archives, the oldest surviving document dates back to the end of the eighth century, transfers and political upheavals nearly caused the total loss of all the archival material preceding Innocent III. From 1198 onwards, complete archives exist, though documentation is scant before the 13th century, the entrance to the Archives, adjacent to the Vatican Library, is through the Porta di S. Anna in via di Porta Angelica. New underground storage space was added in 1980, qualified scholars from institutions of higher education pursuing scientific researches, with an adequate knowledge of archival research, may apply for an entry card. Scholars need a letter by either a recognized institute of research or by a suitably qualified person in the field of historical research. Applicants need to specify their personal data as well as the purpose of their research, There are strict limitations to what archive users are able to view and access. For example, no materials dated after 1939 are available for public viewing –, Pope Francis is considering when to open the full archives of Pope Pius XII. Customarily, documents are available to the public after a period of 75 years. 1817, Vatican Secret Archive brought back to the Vatican from France,1883, Pope Leo XIII opened archives dated 1815 or earlier. 1924, Documents up to the end of the pontificate of Gregory XVI were released,1966, Documents from the pontificate of Pius IX. 1978, Documents from the pontificate of Leo XIII,1985, Documents from the pontificates of Pius X and Benedict XV. 2002, Documents from the archives of the Secretariat of State pertaining to the Holy Sees relations with Germany during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. The reason for this action was to put an end to unjust
26.
L'Osservatore Romano
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It is classified as a semi-official newspaper of the Holy See, but is not an official newspaper. The publication prints two Latin mottoes under the masthead of each edition, Unicuique suum and Non praevalebunt, the current editor-in-chief is Giovanni Maria Vian. He further described the publication as an instrument for spreading the teachings of the successor of Peter, the weekly English edition is distributed in more than 129 countries, including both English-speaking countries and locales where English is used as the general means of communication. The first issue of LOsservatore Romano was published in Rome on 1 July 1861 and this agenda supported the notion of a daily publication to champion the opinions of the Holy See. By July 1860, the deputy Minister of the Interior, Marcantonio Pacelli, had plans to supplement the official bulletin Giornale di Roma with a semi-official rhetorical publication, in early 1861, controversialist Nicola Zanchini and journalist Giuseppe Bastia were granted editorial direction of Pacellis newspaper. Official permission to publish was sought on 22 June 1861, and four days later, on 26 June, the first edition was entitled LOsservatore Romano – a political and moral paper and cost five baiocchi. The political and moral paper epithet was dropped before 1862, adding instead the two Latin mottoes that still appear under the masthead today, the editors of the paper initially met in the Salviucci Press on the Piazza de Santi Apostoli, where the paper was printed. Only when the staff was established on the Palazzo Petri in Piazza dei Crociferi. Soon after, LOsservatore began to replace the Giornale di Roma as the organ of the Pontifical State. This development was obvious during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, the English weekly edition was first published on 4 April 1968. On 7 January 1998, that became the first to be printed outside of Rome. The edition was printed by the Cathedral Foundation, publishers of The Catholic Review, for instance, a 2008 article expressed the wish that the debate on brain death be re‑opened because of new developments in the medical world. An official spokesman said that the article presented an opinion of the author. Index of Vatican City-related articles Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher, the worlds great dailies, profiles of fifty newspapers pp 230–37 The Holy See – LOsservatore Romano LOsservatore Romano site index The origins of LOsservatore Romano
27.
Vatican Information Service
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The Vatican Information Service is an official news service of the Holy See Press Office. The service was founded in 1991, and transmits news on a basis at 3pm Rome time, except during the month of August. The service is available in four languages, English, Spanish, French, the VIS is a freely available service, and invites subscribers from around the world to use their electronic mailing list. Generally, each VIS broadcast contains information of activities, including meetings, appointments, publications. Periodically the deaths of prelates are announced, as are the activities of the various Congregations, Councils, Holy See Index of Vatican City-related articles News. va The Vatican Today News Portal Official page The Vatican Today Website
28.
.va
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. va is the Internet country code top-level domain for the State of the Vatican City. It is administered by the Internet Office of the Holy See, there are 23 easily found names starting with www in the va zone, listed below. Name and email servers within the. va namespace include john. vatican. va, michael. vatican. va, paul. vatican. va, lists. vatican. va, and vatiradio. va
29.
Vatican Radio
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Vatican Radio is the official broadcasting service of the Vatican. Set up in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, medium wave, FM, satellite, since its inception, Vatican Radio has been maintained by the Jesuit Order. During World War II and the rise of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, a week after Pope Pius XII ordered the programming, Vatican Radio broadcast to an incredulous world that Poles and Jews were being rounded up and forced into ghettos. Today, programming is produced by two hundred journalists located in 61 different countries. Vatican Radio produces more than 42,000 hours of simultaneous broadcasting covering international news, religious celebrations, in-depth programs, the current general director is Father Federico Lombardi, S. J. Vatican Radio began broadcasting with the callsign HVJ on two shortwave frequencies using 10 kilowatts of power on 12 February 1931, with the pontificial message Omni creaturae of Pope Pius XI. In 1933, a permanent microwave link was established between the Vatican Palace and the residence of the papacy, Castel Gandolfo. In 1936, the International Telecommunication Union recognized Vatican Radio as a special case, on 25 December 1937 a Telefunken 25 kW transmitter and two directional antennas were added. Vatican Radio broadcast over 10 frequencies, during World War II, Vatican Radios news broadcasts were banned in Germany. During the war, the service operated in four languages. While some critics have said Pope Pius XII was too quiet regarding the Holocaust, Adler argues that it exposed Nazi persecution of the Church and opposed collaboration with Nazism. It appealed to Catholics to remain true to their faiths injunctions, to defend the sanctity of life, in so doing the Pope pursued a policy of spiritual resistance to Nazi ideology and racism. In 1948, services expanded to 18 languages, because of space purposes, the Holy See acquired a 400-hectare area located 18 kilometres north of Rome at Santa Maria di Galeria. The Italian Republic granted the site status in 1952. The next phase involved two 100 kW transmitters aimed at Africa and Oceania, a 250 kW mediumwave transmitter for Europe, Radio Vaticana was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950. In the 21st century, Vatican Radio has experimented with digital technologies and has used electronic newsletters, podcasts. Vatican Radio and CTV began their own YouTube channel in 2010, operating in four languages, in May 2009 it was announced that Vatican Radio would begin broadcasting commercial advertisements for the first time in July. The decision was made so as to meet the rising costs
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