Vatican City: capital of the Catholic church, home to the Pope, owner of an impressive collection of art and history all within the border of the world's smallest country conveniently circumnavigateable on foot in only 40 minutes. So how did the world end up with this tiny nation? The short answer is because: Mussolini and the long answer is very fiendishly complicated so here's a simplified medium* version.
The Popes used rule a nation called the Papal States which covered most of modern-day Italy. It was during this thousand year plus year reign that the Popes constructed St. Peter's Basilica the largest church in the world, and also build a wall around the base of a hill known as Vatican upon which St. Peter stood. The neighboring country known as the Kingdom of Italy thought Rome would make an awesome capital for its country, and so conquered the Papal States. While his nation was being destroyed, the Pope hid behind the walls of Vatican and conflictingly refused to acknowledge that the Kingdom of Italy existed while simultaneously complaining about being a prisoner of the Kingdom of Italy which according to him didn't exist. Rather than risk religious civil war by getting rid of the Pope, the Kingdom of Italy decided to wait him out assuming he'd eventually give up. However, 5 Popes and 60 years later nothing had changed. Which now brings us to Benito Mussolini the then Prime Minister of Italy. He was tired of listening to the Pope complain to Italian Catholics about his self-imposed imprisonment, so Mussolini thought he could score some political points by striking a deal. It went something like this: 1. Italy gave the land of Vatican to the Pope, and 2. Italy gave the Pope a bunch of apology money. In return the pope acknowledged that Italy existed, and the Pope promised to remain neutral in politics and war. Just in case Mussolini decides to side with Hitler; which he did. The deal was signed and Vatican City was born.
Today the tiny nation on a hill has all the things you'd expect of a country. It has its own government that makes its own laws that are enforced by its own police that puts people who break them in its own jail. It also has its own bank, prints its own stamps, and issues its own license plates (though only its citizens can drive within its borders (primarily because of the terrible, terrible parking)), and as the true mark of any self-respecting nation its own top-level domain: .va. Despite these aspects, Vatican City isn't like any other country.
Hold on to your papal hat because it's about to get weird.
To really understand the Vatican there are 2 people and 2 things you need to know: the famous Pope, the incredibly confusing Holy See, the country of Vatican City, and the almost completely unknown King of Vatican City.
But first, the Pope who gets a throne to sit upon and from which he acts as the Bishop for all Catholics in Rome. All bishops in the Catholic Church have thrones, but because the Bishop of Rome is also the Pope his throne is special and has its own special name: The Holy See. Every time a Pope dies or retires there is a sort of game of thrones to see which of the bishops get to occupy the Holy See. While Popes come and go, the throne is eternal. As such the name Holy See not only refers to the throne, but also all the rules that make the Catholic Church the Catholic Church. When Mussolini crafted the treaty he actually gave the land of Vatican to the Holy See. Believe it or not the Holy See is a legal corporate person in international law. Basically every time you hear Holy See think Catholic Church, Inc of which the Pope is the CEO.
Now back to the King. The King of Vatican City has absolute unchecked power within the country's borders. His presence makes Vatican City one of only six remaining absolute monarchies left in the world including: Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Swaziland. The King's absolute power is why Vatican City can't join the European Union because only democracies are allowed. Though Vatican City does have a legislative branch of government staffed by cardinals appointed by the Pope, the king can overrule their decisions at any time for any reason. So why do you never hear about the King of Vatican City? Because though king and Pope are two different roles, they just so happen to be occupied by the same person at the same time. It has the funny consequence that because the Pope is elected and the king is all powerful, but they're the same guy, It makes Vatican City the world's only Elected Non-Hereditary Absolute Monarchy. it's this dual role that makes untangling Vatican City so difficult because the Pope (depending on the situation) acts either as the king of the country of Vatican City, or the Pope of the Holy See.
Got it? No? Okay time for an analogy. Imagine if a powerful international company (say Kiker Industries) had a CEO who convinced the United States to give one of its islands to the company which then made the island into a new country. The country would be named Kikertropolis and would have an absolute monarchy as its government and a law that made the king by definition the CEO of the company. It's pretty obvious at this point that the CEO should move its corporate headquarters to the new nation so that the laws of the country can benefit the company and the company's global reach can benefit the country. As for the man in the middle, sometimes it's good to be the CEO and sometimes it's good to be the king.
That is essentially Vatican City, but if you're still confused don't worry. Even other countries can't keep it straight. For example the United Nations has the Holy See as a member, but not Vatican City the actual country. The Holy see also gives passports to its citizens that other countries accept even though the passports come from a company, not a country.
Speaking of Vatican City citizens, they are perhaps the strangest consequence of the Pope's dual role as a religious leader and monarch. While other countries admit new citizens with the ever so popular process of human reproduction, Vatican City does not. No one in Vatican City is born a citizen. The only way to become a citizen is for the king to appoint you as one. The king only appoints you as citizen if you work for the Pope who is also the king. Because the king is all powerful, your citizenship is at his whim. If you quit your job for the Pope, the king (who is also the Pope) will revoke your citizenship. These rules mean that Vatican City doesn't have a real permanent population to speak of . There are about 500 citizens; which is fewer people than my high school graduating class. All citizens work for the Pope as either cardinals, or diplomats, or Swiss Guards, or other Catholic related jobs.
So it's best to think of Vatican City as a sovereign corporate headquarters that grants temporary citizenship to its managers rather than a real city state like Singapore which has a self reproducing population of citizens that engage in a variety of economic activity; both of which Vatican City lacks.
But in the end the reason the world cares about Vatican City is not because of the citizens within its walls, but because of the billion members of its church outside of those walls.
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