Editing Holy See (section)

== Status in international law ==
{{Main|Legal status of the Holy See}}
The Holy See has been recognized, both in state practice and in the writing of modern legal scholars, as a subject of [[public international law]], with rights and duties analogous to those of [[Sovereign state|States]]. Although the Holy See, as distinct from the Vatican City State, does not fulfill the long-established criteria in international law of [[Sovereign state|statehood]]—having a permanent population, a defined territory, a stable government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states<ref>These criteria for statehood were first authoritatively enunciated at the [[Montevideo Convention]] on Rights and Duties of States, signed by American states on 26 December 1933.</ref>—its possession of full legal personality in [[international law]] is shown by the fact that it maintains [[diplomatic relations]] with 180<ref name="DipRel">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_20010123_holy-see-relations_en.html |title=Bilateral and Multilateral Relations of the Holy See, update on October 22, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709142833/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_20010123_holy-see-relations_en.html |archive-date=9 July 2014}}</ref> states, that it is a ''member-state''<ref>e.g. [http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/MemberStates/ IAEA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212170611/http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/MemberStates/ |date=12 December 2007 }}, [http://www.osce.org/who/83 OSCE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708145624/http://www.osce.org/who/83 |date=8 July 2014 }}, [http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/about-iom-1/members-and-observers/governments/member-states.html IOM] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212170611/http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/MemberStates/ |date=12 December 2007 }}</ref> in various [[Intergovernmental organizations|intergovernmental international organizations]], and that it is: "respected by the international community of sovereign States and treated as a subject of international law having the capacity to engage in diplomatic relations and to enter into binding agreements with one, several, or many states under [[international law]] that are largely geared to establish and preserving peace in the world."<ref>[[Robert Araujo (Jurist)|Robert Araujo]] and John Lucal, Papal Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace, the Vatican and International Organizations from the early years to the [[League of Nations]], Sapienza Press (2004), {{ISBN|1-932589-01-5}}, p. 16. ''See also'' James Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law, (1979) p. 154.</ref>

=== Diplomacy ===
{{main|Foreign relations of the Holy See}}
{{further|Diplomatic missions of the Holy See|Holy See and the United Nations|Multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See}}

[[File:Holy See relations.svg|thumb|upright=2.25|Foreign relations with the Holy See: {{legend|#008000|Diplomatic relations}}
{{legend|#00ff00|Other relations}}
{{legend|#999999|No relations}}]]

Since [[medieval]] times the episcopal see of Rome has been recognized as a sovereign entity. The Holy See (not the State of Vatican City) maintains formal diplomatic relations with and for the most recent establishment of diplomatic relations with {{Numrec|Holy See|N=3|link=N}} sovereign states,<ref name="DipRel" /> and also with the [[European Union]], and the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]], as well as having relations of a special character with the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]];<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/corpo-diplomatico_index_en.html#top Bilateral and Multilateral Relations of the Holy See] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012105106/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/corpo-diplomatico_index_en.html |date=12 October 2010 }}. The Vatican. (31 May 2007). Retrieved 11 September 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-34102?l=english |title=179 states have full diplomatic relations with the Holy See |publisher=[[Zenit News Agency]] |date=11 January 2012 |access-date=20 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120116144434/http://www.zenit.org/article-34102?l=english |archive-date = 16 January 2012}}</ref> 69 of the diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See are situated in Rome. The Holy See maintains 180 permanent diplomatic missions abroad, of which 74 are non-residential, so that many of its 106 concrete missions are accredited to two or more countries or international organizations. The diplomatic activities of the Holy See are directed by the [[Secretariat of State (Vatican)|Secretariat of State]] (headed by the [[Cardinal Secretary of State]]), through the Section for Relations with States. There are 12 internationally recognized states with which the Holy See does not have relations.{{NoteTag|[[Afghanistan]], [[Bhutan]], [[Brunei]], [[Comoros]], [[Laos]], the [[Maldives]], [[North Korea]], the [[China–Holy See relations|People's Republic of China]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Somalia]], [[Tuvalu]] and [[Holy See–Vietnam relations|Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/162301?eng=y |title=Mission Impossible: Eject the Holy See from the United Nations |website=chiesa: News, analysis, and documents on the Catholic Church, by Sandro Magister |date=21 August 2007 |access-date=3 October 2007 |archive-date=22 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722051730/http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/162301?eng=y |url-status=live }}</ref>}} The Holy See is the only European subject of international law that has diplomatic relations with the government of the [[Taiwan|Republic of China (Taiwan)]] as representing China,<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/corpo-diplomatico/corpo-diplomatico_stati_elenco_en.html Holy See Press Office: "Bilateral and Multilateral Relations of the Holy See"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906041527/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/corpo-diplomatico/corpo-diplomatico_stati_elenco_en.html |date=6 September 2014 }}</ref><ref>''[[Annuario Pontificio]] 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), pp. 1307 (Rappresentanze Pontificie) and 1338 (Corpo Diplomatico presso la Santa Sede)</ref> rather than the government of the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (see [[Holy See–Taiwan relations]]).

The British [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] speaks of [[Vatican City]] as the "capital" of the Holy See, although it compares the legal personality of the Holy See to that of [[the Crown]] in Christian monarchies and declares that the Holy See and the state of Vatican City are two international identities. It also distinguishes between the employees of the Holy See (2,750 working in the [[Roman Curia]] with another 333 working in the Holy See's diplomatic missions abroad) and the 1,909 employees of the Vatican City State.<ref name="fco" /> The [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Holy See|British Ambassador to the Holy See]] uses more precise language, saying that the Holy See "is not the same as the Vatican City State. ... (It) is the universal government of the Catholic Church and ''operates from'' the Vatican City State."<ref>[http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/ambassadors-address-on-uk-holy-see-relations.html Ambassador's Address on UK-Holy See Relations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513225154/http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/ambassadors-address-on-uk-holy-see-relations.html |date=13 May 2011 }} (emphasis added)</ref> This agrees exactly with the expression used by the website of the United States Department of State, in giving information on both the Holy See and the Vatican City State: it too says that the Holy See "operates from the Vatican City State".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Holy See |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3819.htm |access-date=26 July 2022 |website=U.S. Department of State |archive-date=19 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319202807/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3819.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Holy See is a member of various international organizations and groups including the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA), [[International Telecommunication Union]], the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE), the [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]] (OPCW) and the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (UNHCR). The Holy See is also a permanent [[observer status|observer]] in various international organizations, including the [[United Nations General Assembly]], the [[Council of Europe]], [[UNESCO]] (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO), and the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO).

=== Relationship with Vatican City and other territories ===
{{Vatican city}}
The Holy See participates as an observer to [[African Union]], [[Arab League]], [[Council of Europe]], the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] (NAM), [[Organization of American States]], [[International Organization for Migration]] and in the United Nations and its agencies [[FAO]], [[ILO]], [[UNCTAD]], [[UNEP]], [[UNESCO]], [[UN-HABITAT]], [[UNHCR]], [[United Nations Industrial Development Organization|UNIDO]], [[World Tourism Organization|UNWTO]], [[WFP]], [[WHO]], [[WIPO]]. and as a full member in [[IAEA]], [[OPCW]], [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE).

Although the Holy See is closely associated with Vatican City, the independent territory over which the Holy See is [[sovereignty|sovereign]], the two entities are separate and distinct. After the Italian seizure of the [[Papal States]] in 1870, the Holy See had no territorial sovereignty. In spite of some uncertainty among jurists as to whether it could continue to act as an independent personality in international matters, the Holy See continued in fact to exercise the right to send and receive diplomatic representatives, maintaining relations with states that included the major powers Russia, [[Prussia]], and [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref name="30giorni.it">[http://www.30giorni.it/it/articolo.asp?id=10264 Lecture by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, 16 February 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014138/http://www.30giorni.it/it/articolo.asp?id=10264 |date=27 September 2007 }}. 30giorni.it. Retrieved 11 September 2011.</ref>

Where, in accordance with the decision of the 1815 [[Congress of Vienna]], the [[Nuncio]] was a member of the Diplomatic Corps and its dean, this arrangement continued to be accepted by the other ambassadors. In the course of the 59 years during which the Holy See held no territorial sovereignty, the number of states that had diplomatic relations with it, which had been reduced to 16, increased to 29.<ref name="30giorni.it"/>

The State of the Vatican City was created by the [[Lateran Treaty]] in 1929 to "ensure the absolute and visible independence of the Holy See" and "to guarantee to it indisputable sovereignty in international affairs." Archbishop [[Jean-Louis Tauran]], the Holy See's former Secretary for Relations with States, said that Vatican City is a "minuscule support-state that guarantees the spiritual freedom of the Pope with the minimum territory".<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_doc_20020422_tauran_en.html Lecture by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, 22 April 2002] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215051159/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_doc_20020422_tauran_en.html |date=15 February 2014 }}. The Holy See. Retrieved 11 September 2011.</ref>

The Holy See, not Vatican City, maintains diplomatic relations with states.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_20010123_holy-see-relations_en.html Bilateral and Multilateral Relations of the Holy See] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709142833/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_20010123_holy-see-relations_en.html |date=9 July 2014 }}. The Holy See. Retrieved 11 September 2011.</ref> Foreign embassies are accredited to the Holy See, not to Vatican City, and it is the Holy See that establishes treaties and [[concordat]]s with other sovereign entities. When necessary, the Holy See will enter a treaty on behalf of Vatican City.

Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty, the Holy See has extraterritorial authority over [[Properties of the Holy See|various sites in Rome and two Italian sites outside of Rome]], including the [[Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo|Pontifical Palace at Castel Gandolfo]]. The same authority is extended under international law over the [[Apostolic Nunciature]] of the Holy See in a foreign country.