This is a crash course in the history of the world's smallest sovereign state - the Vatican City!

1. How It Came to Be:
The Origins of the
Vatican City
A crash course in the history of the
world’s smallest sovereign state

2. Facts about the Vatican
• Is only 44 hectares in size, making it the world’s smallest
sovereign state
• Saint Peter’s Basilica is not actually the official
ecclesiastical seat of the pope, hence it is not the
ecumenical mother church of the Catholic hierarchy.
• This honor belongs to the Archbasilica of Saint John
Lateran, which is one of the four major basilicas of the
Catholic Church.

3. Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome
The ecumenical mother church of the Catholic hierarchy

4. First things first:
the Papal States
So how did the Catholic Church get to have the
Vatican City in the first place?

5. To make a long story short,
beginning in the year 754,
the papacy began its
secular duty as the governor
of large tracts of land
surrounding Rome.
Over a period of more than
1,100 years, these territories
became known as the Papal
States.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

6. The Kingdom of Italy was formed in 1861 and the new
realm declared war on Pope Pius IX in Rome and the Papal
States.
The Papal States were annexed to the kingdom in no time.
Refusing to recognize the authority of the Kingdom of Italy,
Pope Pius IX confined himself within the walls of the
Leonine City, which is sort of a precursor of the modern-day
Vatican City.

7. He excommunicated the
King of Italy and maintained
an image of power by
preserving diplomatic
relations with many
countries.
Between 1870 to 1929 a
total of five popes were
considered “prisoners in the
Vatican.”
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

8. Lateran Treaty
This stand-off between the
Kingdom of Italy and the
Catholic Church ended in 1929
with the signing of the Lateran
Treaty on February 11, 1929.
It was signed by the Italian
Prime Minister Benito Mussolini
and the Holy See’s Cardinal
Secretary of State Pietro
Gasparri.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

9. The treaty…
• recognized full sovereignty of the Holy See over the State
of Vatican City;
• listed which of the properties of the Vatican on Italian soil
were to hold extraterritorial status and exemption from
expropriation and taxes;
• stipulated that the Italian government will give the Holy
See a financial compensation that is equivalent to about
$1 billion in today’s money.

10. How is the Holy See different
from the Vatican City?
But what exactly is this Holy See that the Kingdom of Italy signed an
agreement with?

11. The Holy See
• According to the Catholic tradition, it is a term used to
describe the episcopal see, the throne, or the seat of the
bishop of Rome.
• The Holy See’s original Latin name, “Sancta Sedes”
actually means the “holy seat,” as a reference to the seat
of Saint Peter, traditionally considered as the first bishop
of Rome.
• It is also used to refer to the district or diocese under the
administration of the bishop of Rome.

12. Saint Peter
Traditionally considered as the first bishop of Rome

13. Pope Francis
Unlike other Catholic episcopal sees and dioceses in the world, however, the Holy
See is special because the bishop of Rome is also the pope.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

14. The Holy See…
• is distinct from the Vatican City, which is its sovereign
territory.
• it possesses a full legal personality in international law,
with rights and duties similar to sovereign states.
• it only issues diplomatic and service passports because
it isn’t the actual country, while the Vatican City issues
the normal passports to its citizens.

15. If you’re still confused, you can probably think of the Holy
See as a corporate entity with the Pope as its head, while
the Vatican City is the realm he rules.

16. Can a 44-hectare walled city
be an actual country?

17. Vatican City is
unique.
In many ways, comparing
Vatican City to other city-
states like Monaco, San
Marino, or Singapore is quite
problematic.
For one thing, Vatican City
does not maintain an actual
commercial economy like
other countries do.

18. What makes it unique?
• its finances are mostly supported by contributions from
members of the church, admission fees into museums,
and the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs;
• it does not have a self-reproducing population since that
most of its 500 or so citizens are men who are celibate;
• at present, there are only about 30 Vatican citizens who
are women;

19. • the other 200 people who
work in Vatican City come
from other countries and
are allowed to maintain
their citizenships, and;
• those who reside inside
the city walls and are
Vatican City citizens are
mostly members of the
clergy or of the Swiss
Guard.

20. Who gets to become a citizen of
the Vatican City?
In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI enacted a revised citizenship
law which basically classifies citizens into three categories:
• the cardinals resident in Vatican City State or in Rome;
• the Holy See’s diplomats;
• persons who reside in the Vatican City State because of
their office or service, which includes the Swiss Guards

21. In some cases, citizenship
can be requested by
qualified individuals. For
example, by people who
have obtained papal
authorization to reside in
Vatican City or by spouses
and children of current
citizens.

22. Other Vatican City Facts

23. Absolute Monarchy
• Many people don’t know it, but the Vatican City is
actually one of the last remaining absolute monarchies in
the world, making it a member of an exclusive club that
includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, and
Swaziland.
• But since the pope is elected by the cardinals, this makes
the Vatican City the only non-hereditary absolute
monarchy in the world.

24. The Pontifical Swiss Guard
• Aside from protecting the pope, the Swiss Guards are
there for another reason: to protect the king of Vatican
City. Most of us never get to hear about this king of
Vatican City, but he is very much real because he also
happens to be the pope!
• Don’t let the Swiss Guard’s theatrical-looking
Renaissance uniform fool you. They are actual soldiers
from the Swiss military who can knock out the bad guys
when they have to.

25. Pontifical Academy of
Sciences
• It aims to promote the
progress of
mathematical, physical,
and natural sciences.
• Its members include
some of the 20th
century’s
most prominent scientists
and Nobel laureates.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

26. Latin language
• The Roman Catholic Church is one of the few
organizations in the world that still uses Latin, and it is
also the language mainly used by the Holy See.
• The Vatican City is also the only place in world where
you can find ATMs that allow you to do transactions in
Latin!

27. The obelisk at
Saint Peter’s Square
This obelisk is one of the
oldest artifacts in Rome.
Originally erected in
Heliopolis, Egypt, around
4,400 years ago, the obelisk
was moved to its present
location in 1586 under the
direction of Pope Sixtus V.

28. You can read the
pope’s letters
• If you are a qualified scholar, you can actually gain access to
the Vatican Secret Archives and read the correspondences
made by every pope for the last few centuries.
• These include those between King Henry VIII of England and
Pope Clement VII in the 1500s, wherein the former asked the
latter to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon so that
he could marry Anne Boleyn.
• When the pope denied the request, Henry VIII and the Church
of England separated from Rome, and the king married Anne
Boleyn anyway!

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