#Countries: Vatican
By João Pinheiro
Tomorrow, May 30th, is Corpus Christi. Therefore, the #Countries now shows a church country. The Vatican is the seat of the Catholic Church and the location of the Pope, the Supreme Pontiff. The entire territory of the Vatican is located within Rome, the Italian capital. See more here in #CuriosoInEnglish.
Learn a little…
The Vatican or Vatican City, officially the State of Vatican City (in Italian Stato della Città del Vaticano, in Latin, Status Civitatis Vaticanæ), is the seat of the Catholic Church and a sovereign city-state whose territory landlocked consists of walled enclave within the city of Rome, capital of Italy. With approximately 44 acres (0.44 km ²) and a population of just over 800 inhabitants, is the smallest country in the world, both by population and by area.
The Lateran Treaty of 1929 that created the Vatican city-state, describes it as a new creation (Preamble and Article III), not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756-1870) that previously covered the central Italy. Most of this territory was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 and the final portion, namely the city of Rome with a small area close to it, ten years later, in 1870.
The Vatican City is a state church or theocratic-monarchy, ruled by the bishop of Rome, the Pope. Most civil servants are all Catholic clergymen of different racial, ethnic and national. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Pope’s residence, referred to as the Apostolic Palace.
The popes reside in the area that in 1929 became Vatican City since the return from Avignon in 1377. Previously resided in the Lateran Palace on the Celio hill on the opposite side of Rome, a place that Constantine gave to Pope Miltiades in 313. The signing of the agreements that established the new state took place in the latter building, giving rise to the name of Lateran Pacts, by which it is known.
The Pope and the Vatican City
Pope [possibly comes from the Latin Papa, or from the Greek πάππας, transliterated Pappas, one kind word for father] is the Bishop of Rome, and as such, is the world leader of the Catholic Church. The current Pope is Pope Francis, who was elected in the conclave that ended on March 13, 2013.
The Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals, and his post is lifelong. His ecclesiastical office is called the Papacy and his thirst for the Holy See, the Pope is also the Head of State of Vatican City. The Catholic religion believes that Jesus appointed Peter as the “shepherd” and “rock” of the Church, leading it, and the popes, as their successors, have the authority to govern the Church and the Catholic faith, and infallibility to teach and define points central Christian doctrine.
The Papacy is one of the most enduring institutions of the world, and featured prominently in the history of mankind. The popes in antiquity helped to spread Christianity and resolve doctrinal disputes diverse. In the Middle Ages they played an important role in secular Western Europe, often serving as arbitrators between monarchs and avoiding several wars in Europe.
Currently, in addition to the expansion and doctrine of the Christian faith, the Popes are dedicated to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, the charity work and the defense of human rights.
Vatican religious policy
The Pope in the Vatican holds the legislative, executive and judicial powers since the creation of the Vatican by the Lateran Treaty in 1929.
Technically it is a monarchy elective, not hereditary. One can consider the Vatican as an autocracy, because all powers (executive, legislative and judicial) are concentrated in the figure of the Pope, who has no body that oversees their actions as governor, and, viewed as the successor of St. Peter, should not accountable to anyone, considering him an emissary of God on earth. The Vatican City is the term for the state, while the Holy See is related to the government of the Catholic Church made the Pope and the Roman Curia.
The Roman Curia is effectively the state government and the administration, by his boss, Secretary of State, is equivalent to the duties of a Prime Minister. Other political positions are under different names in the various organs of the Roman Curia.
Formally established in 1929 with the current configuration, the Vatican State manages properties located in Rome and surroundings belonging to the Holy See The Vatican State, with observer status at the United Nations, is recognized internationally and was admitted as a member of full United Nations in July 2004, but voluntarily abdicated the right to vote.
The state has its own ambassadors or representatives, an official journal [Acta Apostolicae Sedis], a radio station, and a military force called the Swiss Guard and a military police force called the Gendarmerie Corps of the Vatican City State. Issues autonomously currency (since 2002, the euro), stamps and passports.
The Holy See United states with many international treaties (concordats) to ensure rights of the Catholics or the Catholic Church in those states. Many were signed when states laicized, as a way of securing rights for the Church and allow their existence in such countries.
Country, city or neighborhood?
The Vatican area is 0.44 km ², being the smallest state in the world [with international recognition]. It is set in the Italian capital, Rome. Therefore, it has no coastline and is an enclave, being an independent and sovereign state. Sharing 3.2 km from the border with Italy, specifically in Rome. The defense of the country is the responsibility of Italy, while safety is the responsibility of the Pope’s Swiss Guard.
It is fundamentally urban and none of the land is reserved for agriculture or other exploitation of natural resources. The city-state displays an impressive degree of economy, born of necessity extremely limited due to its territory. Thus, urban development is optimized to occupy less than 50% of the total area, while the rest is reserved for open space, including the Vatican Gardens.
The territory has many structures that help provide autonomy to the sovereign state, these include: railway lines, helipad, post office, radio station, military barracks, palaces and government offices, institutions of higher education, culture and art, and some embassies.
The [HUGE] Vatican
Over a period of almost a thousand years, which began in the time of the empire of Charlemagne [ninth century], the Popes ruled over most of the United temporal center of the Italian peninsula, including the city of Rome, and parts of southern France .
The Papal States were formed by a cluster of territories, mainly in the center of the Italian peninsula, which remained as an independent state between the years 756 and 1870, under the direct authority of the Popes civil, and whose capital was Rome.
Since it was established the episcopal see of Rome, the faithful, and to a greater extent the Christian emperors were making donations to the Roman Catholic Church of territorial assets, some of them are considered as important territorial extensions. These possessions, along with real estate, came to integrate what is known as “Patrimony of St. Peter,” and were scattered throughout the Italian peninsula and even beyond.
His administration, though not initially converting the Popes in heads of state, gave them authentic civil and political prerogatives recognized by the Pragmatic Sanction of 554 promulgated by the Emperor Justinian I (since, after the conquest of Belisarius, Rome returned to being under the sovereignty of the emperors, following the interregnum hérulo and Ostrogoth), among others to possess a military force that came to constitute a respectable army put into action on multiple occasions, and in some under orders from the pontiff himself.
On the other hand, many of the Popes came from the Roman ruling classes and simultaneously exercised the episcopal office and representatives of civil Rome. Such was the case of Gregory I the Great [590-604], man avezado performance of political functions as above shall bear the position of director of the city itself [Prefectus Urbis] and belonged to a family of Roman patricians.
During the pontificate of Pope Stephen II, around 756, which originate the Papal States. Mentoring of the Byzantine Empire of Rome and papal headquarters was in decline since the beginning of the eighth century. The remoteness from the Eastern Empire became increasingly clear and deep, almost authentic break, as when Pope Constantine I, Emperor facing Filípico Bardanes, it headlined a heretic, came to direct their weapons against Byzantine Exarch.
In such a climate of tension, fear of being offensive Lombard Astolfo against Rome after having taken possession of this Ravenna, Pope Stephen II acode for help to the Franks. Their king, Pepin the Short, gives him aid. The intervention of the Franks appeased Astolfo, who agreed to deliver the Raven “Roman Republic”. But those removed, the Lombard king did not fulfill its commitment and, furthermore, besieged Rome.
This was followed by the new Pope called the recent frank and new protective action of this to his aid. Submitted finally the Lombards with the intervention of cucumber, this did deliver the Pope’s former Exarchate of Ravenna, the Pentapolis (bishoprics of Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia and Ancona) and the region of Rome, giving the pope the temporal domain of a state which, with some geographical variations, was to last for more than eleven centuries, until 1870.
Nevertheless, in an attempt to extract more political advantage, Stephen II exhibited a probably apocryphal document forged by the Roman Curia itself, and allegedly found three years earlier, that soon would be called Donation of Constantine. According to this protocol Constantine had given to Pope Sylvester I, for themselves and their successors, not only the palace of St. John Lateran, which in fact did, but also possession of the entire Italian peninsula and the imperial dignity. However, Pepin the Short, did not believe in the document.
The danger was not over Lombard definitely thanks to the military actions of Pepin the Short. The king Desiderius invaded the Papal States. Hadrian I, pope in the year 774, the Franks again asked him to dispense his protection, and, as he had done years before his father, Charlemagne was now vying help Holy See
The result was the restitution of church property and the promise not fulfilled, the annexation of other territories. In any case, most of central Italy was constituted in independent state under the rule of the popes. In gratitude, the pope crowned Charlemagne as Roman emperor in the year 800.
End of the Papal States
In the Renaissance period, the Papal States gained importance. This is because Rome had become this season again the capital Christianity after bitter dispute with France over who would succeed to the papal throne and where to situate the capital, whether in France or Rome.
The only state that has survived to the present day the Vatican State was still within the papal states.
In 1870, popped the Franco-Prussian War and the French emperor needed to dispose of all military forces, including units garrison in Rome. The newly formed Kingdom of Italy allied with Prussia in this contest, so had the good pleasure of Bismarck to act smoothly against the possessions of the pope pro-French.
Pope Pius IX met eight thousand soldiers in a desperate attempt to resist, but insufficient papal army could not stop the Italian divisions who patriotically marched on Rome. On September 20, 1870, entered into Rome, soon declared the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, with the establishment of the court of King Victor Emanuel II in the Quirinal Palace.
On the map above, the area in red represents the area annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, the rest (gray) was annexed in 1870.
The revenues of the parishes were left intact, but the cathedral chapters and bishops were forced to cede their property to the state in exchange for receiving only 5% (after deducting three tenths scopes for educational and charitable public).
The seminarians were required to perform military service and the new civil code did not give legal sanction to marriages that were not concluded in accordance with the civil rite.
That nagging question of disputes between the State and the Church only ended in 1929, when the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, requiring support from the Catholic Church and signed with Pope Pius XI the Concordat of St. John Lateran.
By this treaty, signed up an agreement by which created the Vatican State, the supreme pontiff received monetary compensation for territorial losses, religious education was compulsory in Italian schools and prohibited the admission to public office of priests to abandon the priesthood .
Conservatism and scandals
In October 1978, with the untimely death of the successor of Paul VI, John Paul I, whose pontificate lasted only 33 days, the Polish Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła, with the name John Paul II became the first non-Italian Pope since the sixteenth century. The new pontificate is marked by conservatism on moral issues and strengthening discipline in the Church, which is reflected in the attempt of John Paul II to empty the power of the clergy called “progressive”.
In 1981, John Paul II was attacked in Rome, its author, the Turkish Mehmet Ali Agca, is sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1982, the Vatican personalities are involved in the scandal of fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano. The Vatican’s relations with the Italian State worsen in 1987, when the Justice of Italy ordered the arrest of Cardinal Paul Marcinkus, the Vatican secretary of state and director of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the financial institution involved in the Ambrosiano scandal. Based on the terms of the arrangement - in which Italy has no jurisdiction over the Vatican - the Italian Supreme Court acquits Marcinkus.
John Paul II visited Poland several times and had a major role in the resumption of dialogue between the communist government and the powerful Polish Church. Between 1990 and 1991, with the fall of communism, the Vatican resumed diplomatic relations with countries of the former socialist bloc.
In 1992, the “progressive” Church criticized the beatification of Father José María Escrivá Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei rightist, and the reaffirmation by the Pope’s condemnation of homosexuality. The new Catechism of the Catholic Church now considers masturbation and prostitution deadly sins against nature, beyond homosexuality as a grave sin against human nature and sexual condemned corruption and economic domination
In 1993, the Vatican faced a budget deficit estimated at $ 91.7 million. To address this financial crisis, the City of Economic Affairs authorized the commercial exploitation of the image of John Paul II. In the same year, the Pope reaffirmed his conservative positions on abortion, celibacy or sex before marriage in the encyclical Veritatis Splendor.
The encyclical Evangelium Vitae, published in 1995, radically condemned abortion and euthanasia. In May, the Vatican issued the 12th encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, calling for the unity of all Christians - Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants - following the path opened by Vatican II.
Vatican foreign relations are marked by active intervention in conferences convened by the United Nations (UN), always from the perspective of the conservative current pontificate. At the Cairo Conference on Population in April, disputed birth control methods through “unnatural”. The same position was reaffirmed at the Conference on Women in September 1995 in Beijing.
The Pope and his Swiss Guard… Why “Swiss”?
The story comes from the sixteenth century, when Pope Julius II [1503-1513] asked the Catholic King of Switzerland to send him a group of soldiers to their personal safety. Some accuse Julius II to be more general than the Pope, by the firmness with which ruled the papal territory.
On January 22, 1506, 150 Swiss soldiers, commanded by Captain Kaspar von Silenem, chosen among the best Swiss soldiers, went to the Vatican have been blessed by Julius II.
During the pontificate of Clement VII [1523-1534], these soldiers of the Swiss Guard of the Pope had to face a big fight on May 6, 1527, when the Emperor Charles V invaded Rome with about eighteen thousand men belonging to his army.
The Pope’s Swiss Guards fought bravely and 108 of them died in combat, and who fell from 800 thousand who attacked them. Also, did a cordon around the Pope Clement VII, leading him safely to the Castel Sant’Angelo, which was the refuge of the Popes when attacked. From this historical fact and heroic, the Swiss guards were today being the guardians of the Pope.
The Swiss Guard provides security to visiting foreign dignitaries officially the Vatican, the Pope watch during his apostolic journeys and their appearances in St. Peter’s Square. Not always with the usual uniform and sometimes are undercover as bodyguard and mingle with the crowd, using safety equipment of last generation.
Today the Swiss Guard is composed of 109 members, including five officers, 26 sergeants and corporals and 78 soldiers.
These soldiers are rigorously and provide an oath raising three fingers, symbol of the Holy Trinity, during the ceremony of oath to defend the Pope to the death if necessary. To become a soldier of this Pontifical Guard is a rigid selection:
You must be Catholic because they must attend all days of the various liturgical celebrations at the Vatican. You must have Swiss citizenship [swears] in honor of the 108 Swiss who died in battle in 1527. Only men are admitted, with good physical and psychological health. Soldiers must be unmarried, but the officers, sergeants and corporals can be married. Everyone should sleep in the Vatican.
Everyone goes through a basic course preparation taught by Swiss Army, receiving a certificate of competence. Must have irreproachable conduct, training, learning ability and maturity. Can be admitted between 19 and 30 years of age.
“Stylish” guard
The current uniform of the Swiss Guard was designed by Jules repond, then Captain of the Guard. It is a satin fabric, the colors royal blue, golden yellow and blood-red. The helmet is adorned with a red feather and gloves are white.
It is a stylish uniform that symbolizes nobility and pride to serve the Supreme Pontiff. On May 6, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI presided at a Solemn Mass celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. In his homily he said:
Among the many expressions of the presence of the laity in the Catholic Church, is also the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which is very unique because it is young people who, motivated by love for Christ and the Church, put themselves at the service of the Successor of Peter .
For some of them belonging to this body guard is limited to a period of time, for others extends to become choice for life. For some, and I say it with great pleasure, the service at the Vatican contributed to mature response to the priestly or religious vocation.
But for everyone, be Swiss Guards means adhering without limits to Christ and the Church, so ready to give their lives. The actual service may end, but always remains within Swiss Guards.
Black-and-white smoke
The conclave is held for the election of the new Pope, and a part of the process consists of the smoke signals coming out of the chimney installed in the Sistine Chapel. This is the only means of communication that the 115 cardinals have with the outside world.
The black smoke from the chimney indicates that there has been no decision regarding a new pontiff, while white smoke shows the world that a new Pope has been elected. But where does the color of this famous smoke?
Robert Krampf a science educator also known as ‘Happy Scientist’, told CBS News how this works. “Most of the smoke is due to things that do not burn completely, producing tiny particles floating in the air. Color of the smoke depends on these particles are made. “
Robert explains that black smoke is usually formed by small pieces of carbon, while the white smoke is somewhat more complex, consisting of fuel vapor, water vapor, ash or mineral.
For a long time the Church burnt wet straw with paper ballots voting cardinals to the dark smoke. The wet straw helped keep the fuel to the burning of the ballots, and that produced carbon particles necessary for a dark-colored smoke.
“Unfortunately, the wet straw produces smoke gray, not black. This caused some confusion at times, with people thinking that a new pope had been chosen where the smoke was not dark enough, “he explains.
To cut through the confusion and let the smoke really black, they began to use chemical compounds. Already the white smoke is accompanied by the ringing of the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica to signal that a new pope has been chosen.
Fast facts
>>> AREA: 0.44 km²
>>> CAPITAL: Vatican City
>>> ABSOLUTE POPULATION: 836 (estimate 2012)
>>> RELATIVE POPULATION: 1,891 hab./km2
>>> OFFICIAL NAME: State of the Vatican City (Status Civitatis Vaticanæ)
>>> NATIONALITY: Vatican
>>> LOCATION: Rome, Italy
>>> TIME ZONE: UTC +1h
>>> CLIMATE: Mediterranean
>>> MAJOR CITIES: Vatican City
>>> LANGUAGE: Latin (Holy See) and Italian (Vatican City State)
>>> RELIGION: Christianity (100%)
>>> CURRENCY: Euro
Source: Wikipedia; Canaltech; Editora Cléofas
