Portal:Vatican City

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Welcome to the Vatican City Portal

Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a landlocked 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 a population of about 764 (as of 2023), it is the smallest sovereign 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 legal code regarding homosexuality in the Vatican City is based on the Italian penal code of 1929, the time of the founding of the sovereign state Vatican City. However, it was announced in late 2008 that the Vatican "will no longer automatically adopt new Italian laws as its own, a top Vatican official said, citing the vast number of laws Italy churns out, many of which are in odds with Catholic doctrine".^[1]

There are no criminal laws against non-commercial, private, adult and consensual same-sex sexual activity.

The Vatican does not have its own separate criminal code...

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The Vatican post office has operated its own postal service and issued its own postage stamps since 1929. Pictured is the stamp vending machine of the Vatican Postal Service.

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

Image 1The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 2Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 3The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 4A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 5One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 6View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 7Pope Francis in Vatican City, 2021 (from Vatican City)
Image 8A 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 9Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 10Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 11The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 12The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 13An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 14Territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 15Cesare 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 16Members 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 17Pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 18A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 19St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture. (from Vatican City)
Image 20Image of the United Nations member state borders on a map (from Vatican City)
Image 21Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 22A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 23Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 24The Little Flower, Saint Therese of Lisieux is the official Patroness of the gardens. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 25Gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 26The 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 27Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 28The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 29Empress 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 30The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from Vatican City)
Image 31The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Vatican City)
Image 32Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 33Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 34Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 35The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 36Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 37President 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 38Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 39An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 40The Vatican's post office was established on 11 February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 41Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 42Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 43The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?
... that the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?
... that the Vatican selected Mary Milligan in 1987 to be one of only three U.S. experts to assist the International Synod of Bishops on the Laity in Rome?
... that the final silent film directed by Giulia Cassini Rizzotto was partly funded by the Vatican and featured Italian aristocrats?

... 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 capital punishment in the Vatican City was legal (but not carried out) between 1929 and 1969?

... that Eugenio Pacelli's (future Pope Pius XII) 1936 visit was planned, in part, to investigate and silence Catholic priest and New Deal opponent Charles Coughlin?