The Creation of the State of Vatican City (11 February 1929)

The Catholic doctrine of pontifical sovereignty

To understand why the Church insisted, in 1929, on obtaining a state and not merely an administrative enclave or a special status, one must go back to the Catholic doctrine of pontifical sovereignty.

Since the High Middle Ages, the Successor of Peter has been held to be a subject of international law in his own right, not by reason of any temporal power held in itself, but by reason of his universal spiritual primacy over the Catholic Church. This doctrine, whose medieval roots go back notably to Innocent III (1198-1216) and his doctrine of plenitudo potestatis — formulated among other places in the decretal Per venerabilem of May 1202^[6] —, though it was not yet the modern concept of a subject of international law, founds the centuries-old practice by which the pope exchanges ambassadors with the sovereigns of the whole world — a practice maintained by most European powers even after the disappearance of the Papal States in 1870, with the double exception of Italy, without relations with the Holy See from 1870 to 1929, and of France, whose government ended official relations on 30 July 1904, before their restoration voted in 1921.^[7][8]

But this abstract juridical personality, founded on mission, had posed a practical problem since 1870: where did the pope reside? Under which jurisdiction was the central administration of the Church? Which passport did the cardinal prefect of a dicastery or the nuncio sent to Berlin carry? As long as the pope was physically on Italian territory, any government in Rome could, in theory, restrict his correspondence, search his residence, or expel ecclesiastical officials. The Italian Jesuit canonist Felice M. Cappello thus formulated the doctrine in his Summa iuris publici ecclesiastici (Rome, 1928): the supreme spiritual freedom of the pope requires, in his view, a minimal but real temporal independence — an independence which the Guarantees of 1871 had never provided.^[9]

The calculation of Pius XI: minimal in order to stay credible

When negotiations opened secretly in 1926, Pius XI set a central requirement: he did not want to remake the Papal States. The pope of 44 hectares reasoned in explicit opposition to the pope of the 44,000 km² of before 1859 — the maximum extent of the Papal States before the annexations of the Risorgimento. Three reasons for this choice.

First, politically refusing the idea of an enlarged pontifical state avoids any reproach of revanchism towards the young Kingdom of Italy. Pius XI does not ask for the return of Bologna, the Marches or Umbria. He asks for the strict enclosure around Saint Peter's Basilica.

Secondly, a minimal territory reduces to zero the temptation to turn the Church into a territorial political actor. A Vatican City of one square kilometre cannot maintain an army, cannot administer a tax-paying population, cannot conduct territorial foreign policy. It can do only one thing: shelter the successor of Peter and the central administration of the Church.

Thirdly, the tiny character makes juridically incontestable the exclusively functional nature of the state. No one can claim that Vatican City is an ordinary state with its own geopolitical interests; everyone sees that it exists to guarantee the spiritual freedom of the Church, and nothing else.

Pie XI y donne la doctrine : un territoire volontairement réduit au minimum, simple point d'appui garantissant la liberté spirituelle du Successeur de Pierre. — Paraphrase de l'allocution Vogliamo anzitutto aux professeurs et étudiants de l'Université catholique du Sacré-Cœur de Milan, 13 février 1929^[10]

The pope here gives the doctrinal key to the Vatican state: the territory is not an end, it is a firm fulcrum for the mission. The entire juridical edifice of 1929 derives from this Archimedean image.

Holy See or State of Vatican City?

International law rigorously distinguishes two subjects:

The practical rule applied by pontifical diplomacy has been constant since 1929: political, diplomatic and doctrinal treaties fall to the Holy See; technical, postal, monetary and telecom treaties fall to the State of Vatican City.^[11][12] In 1964, the UN Secretary-General U Thant (in office from 1961 to 1971) accepted that it would be the Holy See, and not the City State, which would receive the status of Permanent Observer in New York — a choice which underlines the universal and spiritual character of the Vatican voice at the UN.^[13]

Three documents, one day, one state

The Lateran Agreements consist of three texts signed on the same day: a political Treaty, an ecclesiastical Concordat, a financial Convention. But only the Treaty creates the State of Vatican City. The Concordat governs Church-State relations in the Italian peninsula; the Financial Convention materially settles the spoliation of 1870. The State, for its part, is born exclusively of the Treaty — 27 articles.^[14]

The heart of this Treaty lies in five technical articles which any serious examination of the Vatican as a state must cite:

Article 2 — « L'Italie reconnaît la souveraineté du Saint-Siège dans le champ international comme un attribut inhérent à sa nature, en conformité avec sa tradition et avec les exigences de sa mission dans le monde. » (French translation)^[15]

This text is essential: it recognises the sovereignty of the Holy See, it does not create it. The sovereignty of the Holy See is inherent in its nature and prior to the treaty. Italy gives nothing: it acknowledges.

Article 3 — « L'Italie reconnaît au Saint-Siège la pleine propriété et la puissance exclusive et absolue, ainsi que la juridiction souveraine, sur le Vatican, tel qu'il est actuellement constitué, avec toutes ses dépendances et bâtiments. » (French translation)^[16]

This is the founding article. Full ownership (piena proprietà) and sovereign jurisdiction (giurisdizione sovrana) mark a true state sovereignty, not a mere extraterritoriality. Italy retains no residual rights over Vatican soil.

Article 4 — « La souveraineté et la juridiction exclusive sur la Cité du Vatican, que l'Italie reconnaît au Saint-Siège, comportent qu'aucune ingérence du Gouvernement italien ne peut s'y exercer, et qu'il n'y a là d'autre autorité que celle du Saint-Siège. » (French translation)^[17]

The expression "no interference" (alcuna ingerenza) positively forbids Italy from any act of jurisdiction, even administrative, on Vatican soil.^[18]

Article 24 — « Au regard de la souveraineté qui Lui appartient également dans le champ international, le Saint-Siège déclare qu'Il veut rester et restera étranger aux compétitions temporelles entre les autres États et aux réunions internationales convoquées à cet effet, sauf si les parties en lice s'accordent à faire appel à Sa mission de paix. […] La Cité du Vatican sera toujours et en tout cas considérée comme territoire neutre et inviolable. » (French translation)^[19]

Article 24 sets in stone the perpetual neutrality of Vatican City. No foreign army may enter Vatican territory, even in the event of a major conflict involving Italy. This clause was put to the test during the Second World War: between September 1943 and June 1944, more than 4,000 persecuted persons found asylum in the religious institutes of Rome and the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See.^[20] Juridically, any forced entry onto Vatican soil would have constituted a violation of the Treaty: the neutrality of Article 24, combined with the prohibition of interference of Article 4, made Vatican territory a juridically protected place, sheltered in principle from any forced entry.^[21]

Article 26 — « Le Saint-Siège […] déclare définitivement et irrévocablement composée, et donc éliminée, la "question romaine", et reconnaît le Royaume d'Italie sous la dynastie de la Maison de Savoie, avec Rome comme capitale de l'État italien. De son côté, l'Italie reconnaît l'État de la Cité du Vatican sous la souveraineté du Souverain Pontife. » (French translation)^[22]

Final mutual recognition, by symmetrical formula: the Vatican recognises the Kingdom of Italy; Italy recognises the State of Vatican City.

The territory defined by Annex I

Annex I of the Treaty comprises a detailed cadastral map signed by both parties. It delimits Vatican territory on the basis of four markers:

• to the north and west: the 9th-century Leonine walls, extended in the 15th century by the ramparts of Nicholas V and in the 17th by the fortifications of Urban VIII;
• to the south: the outer limit of Saint Peter's Square, formed by the Bernini colonnade (1656-1667);
• to the east: a travertine strip laid into the paving of Piazza Pio XII and Via della Conciliazione, which visually marks the international border between Italy and the Vatican.

The territory thus delimited covers 0.44 km² (44 hectares), a large part of it Vatican Gardens (Italian gardens, English gardens, woods).^[23][24] The international border measures 3.2 km, entirely with Italy.^[25] The highest point, on the Vatican hill, peaks at 78 metres; the lowest point, Saint Peter's Square, at 19 metres.^[26] The dome of Saint Peter's Basilica — 117.57 metres of interior height, 133.30 metres from street level to the top of the cross — dominates the whole without constituting natural relief.^[27]

Three technical remarks.

First, Vatican territory is not an isolated point: it is in reality an enclave in Rome, with no territorial connection to any other state. To go from the Vatican to any point outside Italy, one necessarily crosses the Italian peninsula. This physical dependence has been compensated juridically by the extraterritorial properties (major basilicas, pontifical palaces, Castel Gandolfo), which enjoy immunities equivalent to embassies.

Secondly, the perimeter follows already existing ancient walls. Italy did not have to cede land; it simply recognised juridically an enclosure which had existed since the 9th century. The Vatican border is therefore, from the archaeological point of view, one of the oldest in Europe.

Thirdly, Saint Peter's Square is on Vatican territory, but public security on the square (crowd management, pilgrim access, intervention in case of attack) is entrusted by convention to the Italian state (Italian carabinieri). This singularity is explained by the open character of the square: technically, any pilgrim in the world may be there at any moment, and the Vatican police (barely 130 gendarmes) would not suffice to manage 30,000 faithful on a Wednesday audience.

The Supreme Pontiff, holder of the fullness of powers

All Vatican Fundamental Laws (1929, 2000, 2023, 2026) make the Supreme Pontiff the holder of the fullness of powers over the State, following an affirmation inherited from classical canon law. The 2023 formulation, now historical:

« Le Souverain Pontife, Chef de l'État de la Cité du Vatican, a la plénitude du pouvoir de gouverner, qui comprend les pouvoirs législatif, exécutif et judiciaire. » — Loi fondamentale de l'État de la Cité du Vatican, 13 mai 2023, article 1 § 1^[28]

This concentration of all three powers in the hands of a single man makes Vatican City the only absolute monarchy remaining in 21st-century Europe. But it is a monarchy of a particular kind:

• it is elective: the pope is elected by the conclave of cardinal electors, not by heredity;
• it is non-hereditary and for life: no child succeeds the pope;
• it is religious: the legitimacy of the head of state derives entirely from his election as Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter;
• it is without an aristocratic court: Paul VI, by the motu proprio Pontificalis Domus of 28 March 1968, abolished the offices of the pontifical court — including those of the Assistant Princes to the Throne — and reduced the Noble Guard to an honorary service.^[29]

The pope exercises his powers by delegation to specialised bodies, but may at any moment resume the direct exercise of any of these powers himself. It is an absolute monarchy by delegation, not a classical constitutional monarchy.

The Pontifical Commission (legislative)

Ordinary legislative power is exercised by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (Pontificia Commissione per lo Stato della Città del Vaticano), instituted by Pius XII in 1939. It is composed of cardinals and other members, including the president, appointed by the pope for five years.^[30]

Until 2023, this Commission was composed only of cardinals. The great novelty introduced by the Francis Fundamental Law (2023), then confirmed by that of Leo XIV (2026), lies precisely here:

« La Commission pontificale pour l'État de la Cité du Vatican est composée de cardinaux et d'autres membres, dont le président, nommés par le Souverain Pontife pour cinq ans. » (French translation) — Loi fondamentale 2023, article 8 § 1^[31]

The expression "other members" (altri membri), substituted for the old formula of cardinal members, explicitly opens membership to lay people, men and women. This change is part of the Francis policy of declericalisation of the administrative functions of the Curia and the Vatican state, already begun by the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium (19 March 2022) for the Roman Curia.^[32]

The Commission examines and approves ordinary laws, the annual budget, technical international conventions, and exercises control over the administration. Its acts become enforceable after papal promulgation in the official journal Acta Apostolicae Sedis — Supplementum (Supplemento per le leggi e disposizioni dello Stato della Città del Vaticano).

The Governorate (executive)

Executive power is exercised by the Governorate (Governatorato), headed by a President. The history of this office knows three great phases.

1929-1952: the single Governor. The 1929 Fundamental Law provided for the figure of the Governor of Vatican City (Governatore della Città del Vaticano), appointed by the pope to head the administration. Pius XI entrusted this office, from the foundation of the State in 1929, to Camillo Serafini (1864-1952), marquis and numismatist. Serafini held this office until his death, in 1952 — for twenty-three years.^[33]

1952-2000: the vacancy and the transfer. On the death of Serafini, Pius XII appointed no successor. Executive functions were transferred in fact to the Pontifical Commission, which became both legislator and administrator. This situation of vacancy lasted forty-eight years — an institutional situation little commented upon but juridically real.

2000-2023: the President of the Commission becomes head of the executive. The John Paul II Fundamental Law (26 November 2000) officially abolished the figure of the Governor and transferred executive powers to the President of the Pontifical Commission, who henceforth combined both functions. The legislative/executive distinction became in practice very tenuous.^[34]

Since 2023: separation restored under Francis. The 2023 Fundamental Law returns to an organic separation of functions, clearly distinguishing the Commission (legislative) from the Governorate (executive), and placing these two bodies under the direct authority of the pope — no longer mediated by the Secretariat of State as had previously been the case. On 15 February 2025, Francis appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist, President of the Pontifical Commission and President of the Governorate, taking office on 1 March 2025 — the first woman to hold these offices in the history of the Vatican.^[35]

Judicial power

Judicial power is exercised in four instances, all seated at the Vatican:

• the Single Judge (Giudice unico) for contraventions and minor offences;
• the Tribunal (Tribunale) for ordinary delicts, presided over by a lay magistrate appointed by the pope;
• the Court of Appeal (Corte d'Appello);
• the Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione), the supreme instance.

The applicable law is, by general reference, canon law as the first source, completed by Italian law in matters not covered (penal, civil, commercial). This is a case unique in the world: a state which explicitly adopts a foreign law (Italian) as supplementary law, while keeping as its first source its own religious law (canonical). The preamble of the 2023 Fundamental Law codified this balance: the Vatican juridical order "recognises canon law as the first normative source and irreplaceable interpretative criterion" (French translation).^[36]

A citizenship jure officii

Vatican citizenship is one of the most singular juridical objects in international law. It is acquired neither by birth on the territory (jure soli) nor by filiation (jure sanguinis), but by office (jure officii) — and it is automatically lost when the office ceases.^[37]

The first citizenship law is Law No. III of 7 June 1929, promulgated by Pius XI on the very day the Treaty entered into force. It provided:

• automatic citizenship for cardinals residing in Rome, dignitaries of the pontifical Court, persons residing permanently on the territory for reasons of service;
• derived citizenship for spouses and children of resident citizens (jure familiae);
• automatic loss upon cessation of residence or office.^[38]

This law remained in force without major modification for 82 years. It was replaced by the Law on citizenship, residence and access to Vatican City of 22 February 2011, under Benedict XVI. The new law maintains the jure officii principle but clarifies its modalities: three categories of citizens (cardinals, nuncios or other diplomats of the Holy See, other persons residing permanently for reasons of service). It also codifies the residual status of former citizens who, on losing their office, automatically become Italian citizens again by virtue of a clause provided for by the 1929 Lateran Treaty.^[39]

A practical consequence of this construction: there are no Vatican citizens by birth. At the time of writing, the exact number of Vatican citizens stands at around 600 to 800 depending on sources and periods.^[40] The majority are priests and religious, but there are also Swiss Guards (Vatican citizens for the duration of their service), a few diplomats and Governorate employees.

The Pontifical Swiss Guard: 1506-1929-today

The Pontifical Swiss Guard (Cohors pedestris Helvetiorum a sacra custodia Pontificis) was not born in 1929 but on 22 January 1506, when Julius II welcomed a first contingent of 150 halberdiers commanded by Kaspar von Silenen of Uri. It is the oldest military corps in the world still in uninterrupted activity (apart from a brief parenthesis 1798-1814 under Napoleon).^[41]

What the Lateran Agreements changed in 1929 was not the existence of the Guard, but its juridical status. For fifty-nine years (1870-1929), the Swiss Guard was a papal militia operating on Italian territory; it could not be armed with heavy weapons and its international status was ambiguous. From 1929 onwards, it became:

• the armed force of the State of Vatican City;
• a corps recognised by the Swiss Confederation as a police force, not as a foreign army (declaration of the Swiss Federal Council of 1929);
• responsible for the personal protection of the pope and the security of the Vatican enclosure.

Strength today stands at about 135 men, brought to that level ahead of the 2025 Jubilee.^[42] Recruitment conditions have remained canonical since 1506: to be a practising Catholic, a Swiss citizen, a man, aged 19 to 30, at least 174 cm tall, unmarried at the start of service. The annual swearing-in ceremony takes place on 6 May, the anniversary of the Sack of Rome (1527) in which 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Clement VII.

The Vatican Gendarmerie Corps

Distinct from the Swiss Guard, the Gendarmerie Corps (Corpo della Gendarmeria) is the civil police of the Vatican state. Directly inherited from the Pontifical Gendarmerie Corps founded by Pius VII in 1816 in the former Papal States, it was brutally dissolved in 1870 during the Italian invasion, then recreated in adapted form by Pius XI in the days following the entry into force of the Treaty.

Its missions:

• maintaining public order on Vatican territory;
• airborne (heliport), road (CV plates), and public security;
• judicial investigations under the authority of the Promoter of Justice;
• escorting the pope on his movements outside the Vatican (but on Italian territory, security is formally provided by the Italian police, in concert with plain-clothes Vatican gendarmes).

Current strength is about 130 gendarmes, almost exclusively Italian laymen recruited by canonical competition.

Currency, stamps, infrastructure

The State of Vatican City exercises its economic autonomy through three pillars: currency, stamps, cultural receipts (Vatican Museums). Money circulates, but the State has no taxation nor internal customs — a situation unique in Europe.

Currency. The Lateran Treaty provides, in Article 20, for the right of the Vatican to mint coins. Pius XI entrusted this dossier to Camillo Serafini, himself a numismatist, who supervised the creation of the Vatican lira, at fixed parity with the Italian lira. Minting was subcontracted to the Banca d'Italia. The Vatican lira remained in service from 1929 to 2002, when the Vatican adopted the euro by monetary agreement with the European Union of 29 December 2000, amended and renewed in 2009. The Vatican may issue euros for a maximum annual face amount of about 2.3 million euros (initially 670,000 euros in 2002), mainly intended for collectors.^[43]

Stamps. On 1 August 1929, less than two months after the entry into force of the Treaty, the first Vatican stamps were issued — the so-called "Conciliazione" (Conciliation) series in reference to the end of the Questione romana. Thirteen values from 5 centesimi to 10 lire, bearing the effigy of Pius XI for the high values and the crossed keys for the low ones. The stamps precede the coins: they are the first tangible manifestation of Vatican sovereignty, 18 months before the first minting.^[44]

The Philatelic Office of the Vatican Post is today a prosperous institution, both an effective postal service and an issuer of collectors' stamps whose sales constitute one of the principal sources of revenue of the State.

Infrastructure. The State owns its own railway station (Stazione Vaticana), inaugurated in 1934^[45], linked to the Italian network by a viaduct crossing the Leonine walls. It no longer serves regular passenger traffic but is still used for occasional pontifical trains. The heliport in the Gardens, installed in 1976 by Paul VI, allows rapid movements of the pope. Vatican Radio (Radio Vaticana), founded by Marconi in person and inaugurated by Pius XI on 12 February 1931, has transmitting antennas located at Santa Maria di Galeria on Italian territory (extraterritoriality). The pope sent his first radio message "urbi et orbi" — to the city and to the world — from this site, audibly extending his spiritual sovereignty.

Flag, coat of arms, anthem

The State adopted on 7 June 1929, the very day the Treaty entered into force, its official flag and coat of arms.

The flag is square (1:1), divided vertically into two bands:

• hoist side: golden yellow (heraldry: or), symbol of spiritual power;
• fly side: white (heraldry: argent), symbol of temporal power.

At the centre of the white band: the pontifical tiara (form used by Pius XI at the time of promulgation, with three crowns) surmounting two crossed keys: the gold key "which opens in the heavens", the silver key "which binds on earth" (Matthew 16:19). It is the only national flag in the world whose heraldic content derives its origin from a precise biblical verse.

The coat of arms bears the same elements with an azure campaign carrying the tiara and keys. The official anthem is the Pontifical March (Inno e Marcia Pontificale) composed in 1869 by Charles Gounod for Pius IX, and adopted as the official anthem by Pius XII on 16 October 1949. Performed for the first time in this role on 24 December 1949, on the eve of the opening of the Holy Year 1950, it replaces the Grande Marcia Trionfale by Vittorino Hallmayer (1857), anthem of the Papal States kept by the Vatican between 1929 and 1949.^[46]

Comparative chronology

What the 2023 Law changed in depth

The reform of 13 May 2023 was the most substantial since 1929. Four major changes:

First, opening of the Pontifical Commission to lay people. Until then, membership had been exclusively cardinalitial. The new formulation ("other members" beside the Cardinal-President) allows the appointment of lay people and religious sisters. It is the first time since 1929 that the Vatican legislative body is no longer a purely clerical college.^[50]

Secondly, direct reporting to the pope, without intermediary. The 2000 Law placed the Commission and the Governorate under the supervision of the Secretariat of State. The 2023 Law removes this mediation: the bodies of the State report directly to the pope. It is a centralisation, but also an institutional clarification — the State depends on the pope as head of state, not on the secretary of state as a disguised prime minister.

Thirdly, explicit legislative / executive separation. The fusion of both functions in the President of the Commission since 2000 was criticised for its lack of separation of powers. The 2023 Law restores two distinct figures: the President of the Commission (legislative) and the President of the Governorate (executive).

Fourthly, codification of the primacy of canon law. The preamble explicitly affirmed: the Vatican juridical order "recognises canon law as the first normative source and irreplaceable interpretative criterion" (French translation).^[51] This is not a doctrinal novelty (it had been the practice since 1929), but it is a formal codification which definitively closes the debate on the possible secularity of Vatican law.

184 diplomatic missions and a seat at the OSCE

The creation of the State in 1929 transforms pontifical diplomacy. Before 1929, the Holy See exchanged nuncios with some fifty countries, and the term "Vatican diplomacy" belonged to vulgar language but not to strict international law. After 1929, two juridical personalities coexist — the Holy See (spiritual subject) and the State of Vatican City (territorial subject) — and the international community learns to distinguish them.

Today, the Holy See maintains formal diplomatic relations with 184 states (official figure, January 2024)^[52] and with the European Union; it has permanent observers to the UN, the FAO, the WHO, UNESCO, the OAS and the African Union; it is a participating State of the OSCE since the 1973 negotiations (original signatory of the Helsinki Final Act, 1975)^[53] and a member of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) since its foundation in 1957.^[54]

For the majority of bilateral relations, it is technically the Holy See which is the contracting party. The State of Vatican City appears as contracting party only for technical conventions: adherence to the Universal Postal Union (on 1 June 1929, six days before even the Treaty entered into force)^[55], to the International Telecommunication Union, monetary agreement with the EU of 2000, de facto adherence to the technical Schengen area.^[56]

6 April 1964: Permanent Observer at the UN

One of the most important diplomatic acts for the consolidation of the international personality of the Holy See is the decision of 6 April 1964, under the pontificate of Paul VI and the UN secretary-generalship of U Thant, to admit the Holy See as Permanent Observer to the United Nations. This status, never requested by Pius XI or Pius XII, was sought by Paul VI in the spirit of openness of the then-ongoing Vatican II council.^[57]

A juridically delicate decision: who is the observer — the Holy See or the State of Vatican City? The agreement reached is explicit: it is the Holy See, not the State, which holds the status. This precision is not insignificant. It means that the voice which will speak in New York in the name of the Vatican will be that of a universal spiritual authority, not that of a European micro-state with its own geopolitical interests. When Paul VI uttered his famous address "never again war, never again war!" to the General Assembly on 4 October 1965, he spoke as Successor of Peter, not as head of a state.^[58]

Observer status progressively expanded: since Resolution 58/314 of 1 July 2004, the Holy See enjoys extended rights — right of reply, right to intervene in the general debate, right to submit proposals and amendments — almost equivalent to those of a member state, without the final right of vote.

Why not a full member?

A question sometimes asked: why does the Holy See not request full membership of the UN?

Three converging reasons.

First, theological. The Holy See refuses to be reduced to a state. Its mission is worldwide and spiritual; it addresses itself to all men, not only to its 800 residents.

Secondly, juridical. Full membership would require submitting political decisions to the vote of the General Assembly. The pope cannot, on doctrinal questions (abortion, marriage, end of life), be bound by a majority.

Thirdly, prudential. Observer status allows the Church to alert, denounce, pray, propose, without mechanically engaging itself in bilateral political conflicts between states. It is exactly the active neutrality which Pius XI had codified in Article 24 of the Lateran Treaty.

« Il n'a aucune puissance temporelle, aucune ambition d'entrer avec vous en compétition. » — Paul VI, discours à l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies, 4 octobre 1965^[59]

Freedom of the Church, practical guarantee

Nearly a century after its creation, the State of Vatican City has demonstrated its doctrinal functionality. Three major ordeals attest to it.

The Second World War (1939-1945). When Nazi Germany occupied Rome (8 September 1943 – 4 June 1944), the Vatican became a haven for thousands of Jews: according to historians' estimates, more than 4,000 persons found asylum in the religious institutes of Rome — convents, parishes, pontifical colleges and extraterritorial properties (Lateran, Castel Gandolfo, major basilicas) — between September 1943 and June 1944.^[60] Vatican territory, declared neutral and inviolable by Article 24, offered this welcome its juridical framework: it is under the shelter of this status that religious institutes and extraterritorial properties were able to open their doors.^[61][62]

The Cold War (1947-1989). The Holy See conducted an active but discreet diplomacy towards the Soviet bloc (Ostpolitik of Casaroli under Paul VI), while John Paul II from 1978 onwards gave courage back to the persecuted Churches of Central Europe. The free circulation of nuncios, the secrecy of pontifical correspondence, the confidentiality of archives — all of this holds juridically on the sovereignty guaranteed in 1929.

The 21st century of sanctions and cyberattacks. When the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith handles a dossier within its competence, it does so from Vatican territory, under the sole authority of the Supreme Pontiff: a concrete illustration of the independence guaranteed in 1929.

The Archimedean wager

Pius XI, two days after the signing, thus summed up the Catholic strategy underlying the State of Vatican City: not a great earthly kingdom — discarded in 1871 in the form of the Law of Guarantees — but a fulcrum tiny and firm guaranteeing the spiritual freedom of the Church. And he built this fulcrum at 44 hectares rather than 44,000 km² because a great state would have drowned the mission.

The calculation was put to the test from the Second World War onwards: during the German occupation of Rome (8 September 1943 – 4 June 1944), the neutral and inviolable status inscribed in Article 24 provided the juridical framework in which asylum could be offered to the persecuted — more than 4,000 persons welcomed in the religious institutes of Rome and the extraterritorial properties.^[63][64] Vatican City proved to be a juridical shield calibrated for a universal spiritual mission.

A lesson not dated

From the Catholic point of view, the State of Vatican City recalls three structural truths whose scope far exceeds Italo-Vatican diplomacy:

1. The spiritual mission needs a minimal material guarantee. Refusing any territory (the position of the intransigents in 1929) would have left the Church at the mercy of states. Accepting a great territory would have turned the Church into a state. The fulcrum is the Catholic balance.
2. The sovereignty of the Church does not depend on size. A state of 44 hectares can be more sovereign than a state of 4 million km² if its juridical order is coherent, its mission clear, and its direction unified. The Vatican is the permanent counter-example to the sociology which measures power by material means.
3. The Holy See / State distinction is doctrinally necessary. Confusing the two is nationalising Catholicism. Distinguishing them, as diplomatic practice has done since 1929, is protecting Catholic universality by assuring it a visible seat without reducing it to that seat.

• Read The Lateran Agreements (11 February 1929): complete diplomatic narrative of the three documents (Treaty, Concordat, Financial Convention) which made the creation of the State possible.
• Read The Papal States (756-1870): history of the earlier temporal power, whose disappearance in 1870 opened the Questione romana.
• Read The First Vatican Council (1869-1870): interrupted precisely by the entry of Italian troops into Rome which opened the Questione romana.
• Read The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965): under the pontificate of Paul VI who obtained in 1964 the status of Permanent Observer at the UN.
• Read The Basilica of Saint John Lateran: historic seat of the papacy and place of signature of the agreements.
• Read Saint Peter's Basilica: central monument of Vatican territory since 1929.