Holy See
The Holy See, also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the apostolic episcopal see of Rome, and serves as the spiritual and administrative authority of the worldwide Catholic Church and Vatican City. Under international law, the Holy See holds the status of a sovereign juridical entity.
According to Catholic historical records and tradition, the Holy See was founded in the first century by Saint Peter and Saint Paul. By virtue of the doctrines of Petrine and papal primacy, it is the focal point of full communion for Catholics around the world. The Holy See is headquartered in, operates from, and exercises "exclusive dominion" over the Vatican City, an independent city-state enclaved in Rome, where the pope is the elected monarch, and therefore head of state.
The Holy See is administered by the Roman Curia, which are the central institutions assisting the pope and through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia includes dicasteries, comparable to ministries or executive departments. The Cardinal Secretary of State is its chief administrator. Papal elections are carried out by members of the College of Cardinals.
Although the Holy See is often metonymically referred to as the "Vatican", the Vatican City State was distinctively established with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, agreed between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, to ensure the temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence of the papacy. As such, papal nuncios, who are papal diplomats to states and international organizations, are recognized as representing the Holy See and not the Vatican City State, as prescribed in the Canon law of the Catholic Church. The Holy See is thus viewed as the central government of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.
The Holy See maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with 180 sovereign states, signs concordats and treaties, and performs multilateral diplomacy with multiple intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations and its agencies, the Council of Europe, the European Communities, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Organization of American States.
Terminology
The word "see" comes from the Latin word sedes, meaning 'seat', which refers to the episcopal throne. The term "Apostolic See" can refer to any see founded by one of the Twelve Apostles. When used with the definite article, it is used in the Catholic Church to refer specifically to the see of the Bishop of Rome, whom that Church considers the successor of Saint Peter. While St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is perhaps the church most associated with the papacy, the actual cathedral of the Holy See is the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome.In the Roman Catholic Church, only the see of the Pope bears the right to be addressed symbolically as "holy". There was one exception to this rule, represented by the Bishopric of Mainz. During the Holy Roman Empire, the former Archbishopric of Mainz, which was also of electoral and primatial rank, had the privilege to bear the title of "the Holy See of Mainz".
History
According to Catholic tradition, the apostolic see of Diocese of Rome was established in the 1st century by Saint Peter and Saint Paul.In 313, the legal status of the Catholic Church and its property was recognised by the supposed Edict of Milan, by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. The Donation of Constantine supposedly transferred Western Roman political authority to the Pope, and was widely accepted until being revealed a fraud shortly before the Reformation.
In 380, it became the state church of the Roman Empire via the Edict of Thessalonica, by Emperor Theodosius I. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the temporal legal jurisdisction of the papal primacy was further recognised as promulgated in Canon law. In 728, the Holy See was granted territory in the Duchy of Rome by the Donation of Sutri by King Liutprand of the Lombards. In 756, it was granted sovereignty by the territorial Donation of Pepin, by King Pepin of the Franks.
From 756 to 1870, the Papal States held extensive territory and armed forces. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor by translatio imperii. The Pope's temporal power peaked around the time of the papal coronations of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire from 858, and the Dictatus papae in 1075, which conversely also described Papal deposing power. Several modern states trace their own sovereignty to recognition in medieval papal bulls. The sovereignty of the Holy See was retained despite multiple sacks of Rome during the Early Middle Ages. Relations with the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire were at times strained, reaching from the Diploma Ottonianum and Libellus de imperatoria potestate in urbe Roma regarding the "Patrimony of Saint Peter" in the 10th century, to the Investiture Controversy in 1076–1122, and settled again by the Concordat of Worms in 1122. The exiled Avignon Papacy during 1309–1376 also put a strain on the papacy, which returned to Rome. In 1648, Pope Innocent X was critical of the Peace of Westphalia, as it weakened the authority of the Holy See throughout much of Europe. From 1798 to 1799, following the French Revolution, the Papal States were briefly occupied as the "Roman Republic", as a sister republic of the First French Empire under Napoleon, before their territory was reestablished.
The Holy See was represented in and identified as a "permanent subject of general customary international law vis-à-vis all states" in the Congress of Vienna. The Papal States were recognised under the rule of the Papacy and largely restored to their former extent. Despite the Capture of Rome in 1870 by the Kingdom of Italy and the Roman Question during the Savoyard era, which made the Pope a "prisoner in the Vatican" from 1870 to 1929, its international legal subject was "constituted by the ongoing reciprocity of diplomatic relationships" that not only were maintained but multiplied. In 1929, the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy recognised Vatican City as an independent city-state, along with extraterritorial properties around the region. Since then, Vatican City is distinct from yet under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See.
Organization
The Holy See is one of the last remaining seven absolute monarchies in the world, along with Saudi Arabia, Eswatini, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Brunei and Oman. The Pope governs the Catholic Church through the Roman Curia. The Curia is a complex of offices that administer church affairs at the highest level, including the Secretariat of State, nineteen dicasteries, three Tribunals, eleven Pontifical Councils, and seven Pontifical Commissions.The Secretariat of State, under the Cardinal Secretary of State, directs and coordinates the Curia. The incumbent, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is the See's equivalent of a prime minister. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, acts as the Holy See's minister of foreign affairs. Parolin was named in his role by Pope Francis on 31 August 2013.
The Secretariat of State is the only body of the Curia that is situated within Vatican City. The others are in buildings in different parts of Rome that have extraterritorial rights similar to those of embassies.
Among the most active of the major Curial institutions are the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees the Catholic Church's doctrine; the Dicastery for Bishops, which coordinates the appointment of bishops worldwide; the Dicastery for Evangelization, which oversees all missionary activities; and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which deals with international peace and social issues.
Three tribunals exercise judicial power. The Roman Rota handles normal judicial appeals, the most numerous being those that concern alleged nullity of marriage. The Apostolic Signatura is the supreme appellate and administrative court concerning decisions even of the Roman Rota and administrative decisions of ecclesiastical superiors, such as closing a parish or removing someone from office. It also oversees the work of other ecclesiastical tribunals at all levels.
The Apostolic Penitentiary deals with matters of conscience, granting absolutions from censures, dispensations, commutations, validations, condonations, and other favors. It also grants indulgences.
The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See coordinates the finances of the Holy See departments and supervises the administration of all offices, whatever be their degree of autonomy, that manage these finances. The most important of these is the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.
The Prefecture of the Papal Household is responsible for the organization of the papal household, audiences, and ceremonies, apart from the strictly liturgical part.
Pope Francis reorganized the Curia to prioritize its role in the church's mission to evangelize. This reform insisted that the Curia is not meant to be a centralized bureaucracy, but a service for the Pope and diocesan bishops that is in communication with local bishops' conferences. Likewise more lay people are to be involved in the workings of the dicasteries and in giving them input.
The Holy See does not dissolve upon a pope's death or resignation. It instead operates under a different set of laws sede vacante. During this interregnum, the heads of the dicasteries of the Curia, such as the prefects of congregations, cease immediately to hold office. The only exceptions are the Major Penitentiary, who continues his important role regarding absolutions and dispensations, and the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who administers the temporalities of the See of St. Peter during this period. The government of the See, and therefore of the Catholic Church, then falls to the College of Cardinals. Canon law prohibits the College and the Camerlengo from introducing any innovations or novelties in the government of the church during this period.
In 2001, the Holy See had a revenue of 422.098 billion Italian lire, about US$202 million at the time, and a net income of 17.720 billion Italian lire, about US$8 million. According to an article by David Leigh in the Guardian newspaper, a 2012 report from the Council of Europe identified the value of a section of the Vatican's property assets as an amount in excess of €680m. In January 2013, Paolo Mennini, a papal official in Rome, managed this portion of the Holy See's assets—consisting of British investments, other European holdings and a currency trading arm. The Guardian newspaper described Mennini and his role in the following manner: "... Paolo Mennini, who is in effect the Pope's merchant banker. Mennini heads a special unit inside the Vatican called the extraordinary division of APSA – Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica – which handles the 'patrimony of the Holy See'."
The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See are conferred by the Pope as temporal sovereign and fons honorum of the Holy See, similar to the orders awarded by other heads of state.