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Holy See

This article is about the Holy See of Rome, and the government of the Vatican City State and worldwide Catholic Church. For the city-state being governed by the Holy See, see Vatican City.

Holy See
Anthem: Inno e Marcia Pontificale (Italian)
"Pontifical Anthem and March"
noicon
Ecclesiastical jurisdictionDiocese of Rome Worldwide[note 1]
41°54.2′N 12°27.2′E / 41.9033°N 12.4533°E / 41.9033; 12.4533
Official languagesLatin[1]
Working languageItalian[2]
Religion
Catholic Church
Demonym(s)Papal
Pontifical
TypeApostolic[note 2]
Theocracy[note 3]
GovernmentUnitary theocratic Catholic elective absolute monarchy[3][4][5][6]
• Pope
Francis
Pietro Parolin
Kevin Farrell
Fernando Vérgez Alzaga
Sovereign entity under international law
1st century by Saint Peter
("Prince of the Apostles")
Early Church – Antiquity
(Canon law; legal history)
728 (territory in Duchy of Rome by Lombard King Liutprand)
756 (sovereignty in Duchy of Rome reaffirmed by Frankish King Pepin)
756–1870
1075: Dictatus papae
1177: Treaty of Venice (sovereignty reaffirmed by Emperor Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire)
1870–1929
(under the Kingdom of Italy)
1929–
(Lateran Treaty with Italy)
Website
Vatican.va

The Holy See[7][8] (Latin: Sancta Sedes, lit. 'Holy Chair[9]', Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes]; Italian: Santa Sede [ˈsanta ˈsɛːde]), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See,[10] is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican City State.[11] It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the Apostolic episcopal see of Rome and serves as the spiritual and administrative authority of the worldwide Catholic Church and the city-state.[12] Under international law, the Holy See holds the status of a sovereign juridical entity.[13]

According to Catholic tradition and historical records, it was founded in the first century by Saints Peter and Paul, and by virtue of the doctrines of Petrine and papal primacy, it is the focal point of full communion for Catholic Christians around the world.[14] The Holy See is headquartered in, operates from, and exercises "exclusive dominion" over the independent Vatican City State enclave in Rome, of which the Pope is sovereign.[15]

The Holy See is administered by the Roman Curia (Latin for "Roman Court"), which is the central government of the Catholic Church.[16][17] The Roman Curia includes various dicasteries, comparable to ministries and executive departments, with the Cardinal Secretary of State as its chief administrator. Papal elections are carried out by part of the College of Cardinals.

Although the Holy See is often metonymically referred to as the "Vatican", the Vatican City State was distinctively established with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, between the Holy See and Italy, to ensure the temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence of the papacy.[18] As such, papal nuncios, who are papal diplomats to states and international organizations, are recognized as representing the Holy See and not the Vatican City State, as prescribed in the Canon law of the Catholic Church. The Holy See is thus viewed as the central government of the Catholic Church and Vatican City.[17] The Catholic Church, in turn, is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.[19]

The Holy See maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with 183 sovereign states, signs concordats and treaties, and performs multilateral diplomacy with multiple intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations and its agencies, the Council of Europe, the European Communities, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Organization of American States.[20][21][22]


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "About the Holy See". 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Background Notes, the Holy See". 1995. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Internet portal of Vatican City State". Vatican City State. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference factbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Robbers, Gerhard (2006) Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Archived 4 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-81606078-8. p. 1009.
  6. ^ Nick Megoran (2009) "Theocracy" Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, p. 226 in International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, vol. 11, Elsevier ISBN 978-0-08-044911-1
  7. ^ "the Holy See". Cambridge Dictionary. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
  8. ^ "the Holy See". Oxford Learners Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
  9. ^ "the Holy See (Catholic Encyclopedia)". 28 January 2024. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  10. ^ Livingstone, Elizabeth A. (2006). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-19-861442-5. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ "Holy See | Definition, Roman Catholicism, History, Governance, Vatican, & Facts | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Holy See (10/05)". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Holy See". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  14. ^ Holmes, J. Derek (1978). The Triumph of the Holy See: A Short History of the Papacy in the Nineteenth Century. Burns & Oates. p. 142. ISBN 978-7-80186-160-3. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Holy See, The country brief". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Government of Australia). Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Code of Canon Law: text - IntraText CT". www.intratext.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  17. ^ a b United States. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs (1989). "The Holy See". Backgr Notes Ser: 1–4. PMID 12178005. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Lateran Treaty | Italy [1929]". Britannica. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  19. ^ Agnew, John (12 February 2010). "Deus Vult: The Geopolitics of Catholic Church". Geopolitics. 15 (1): 39–61. doi:10.1080/14650040903420388. S2CID 144793259.
  20. ^ "Holy See's Presence in the International Organizations". The Holy See. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  21. ^ "Holy See". Travel & living abroad. Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Holy See - Observer". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2024.

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