Portal:Vatican City

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Vatican City (/ˈvætɪkənˈsɪti/ ^ⓘ), officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a sovereign country, city-state, microstate, and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, which is itself a sovereign entity under international law, maintaining the city-state's temporal power, governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the Holy See, and the Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population. It is also the second-least populated capital in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. (Full article...)

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The Politics of Vatican City takes place in a framework of an absolute theocratic elective monarchy, in which the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope, exercises ex officio supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power over the State of the Vatican City^[1] (an entity distinct from the Holy See), a rare case of non-hereditary monarchy.

The pope is elected in the Conclave, composed of all the cardinal electors (now limited to all the cardinals below the age of 80), after the death or resignation of the previous Pope. The Conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel, where all the electors are locked in (Latin cum clave) until the election for which a two-thirds majority is required. The faithful can follow the results of the polls (usually two in the morning and two in the evening, until election) by a chimney-top, visible from St. Peter's Square: in a stove attached to the chimney are burnt the voting papers, and additives make the resulting smoke black (fumata nera) in case of no election, white (fumata bianca) when the new pope is finally elected. The Dean of the Sacred College (Cardinale Decano) will then ask the freshly elected pope to choose his pastoral name, and as soon as the pope is dressed with the white habit, the Senior Cardinal-Deacon (Cardinale Protodiacono) appears on the major balcony of St. Peter's façade to introduce the new pope^[2] with the famous Latin sentence Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: habemus papam.(I announce to you a great joy: We have a Pope).

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Credit: Sailko

Sistine Chapel (Latin: Sacellum Sixtinum; Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City.

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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Apostolic Palace (Palazzo Apostolico), the official residence of the Pope. Here, Benedict XVI is at the window marked by a maroon banner hanging from the windowsill at centre. (from Vatican City)
Image 2St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture. (from Vatican City)
Image 3The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from Vatican City)
Image 4Gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 5Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 6Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 7Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 8The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 9A monument to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, among the estimated 3,000 members (18%) of the Polish clergy who were killed by the Nazis; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 10Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 11Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 12One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 13A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 14A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 15Image of the United Nations member state borders on a map (from Vatican City)
Image 16The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 17The Little Flower, Saint Therese of Lisieux is the official Patroness of the gardens. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 18Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 19The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 20The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from Vatican City)
Image 21Cesare Orsenigo (left, with Hitler and Ribbentrop), nuncio to Germany, also served as de facto nuncio to Poland. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 22The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Vatican City)
Image 23Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 24Pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 25An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 26Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 27The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 28The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 29View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 30Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 31Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 32Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 33President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from Women in Vatican City)
Image 34The Vatican's post office was established on 11 February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 35Pope Francis in Vatican City, 2021 (from Vatican City)
Image 36A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 37The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 38Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople carrying the One True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from Mount Calvary. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 39Members of the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the 1944 Liberation of Rome. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 40Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 41An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 42Territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 43Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that the final silent film directed by Giulia Cassini Rizzotto was partly funded by the Vatican and featured Italian aristocrats?
... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?
... that Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
... that the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?
... that sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?

... that Bishop Aloisius Muench, the liaison between the Vatican and the U.S. post-war occupation authority in Germany, referred to the latter as "other Hitlers in disguise"?

...that Pope Pius XII's retention of Cesare Orsenigo (pictured left, with Hitler and von Ribbentrop) as Apostolic Nuncio to Germany is a "chief point of criticism" of his response to the Holocaust?