The population is roughly 830 and fluctuates as priests and nuns move to other missions around the world. The Holy See or the apostolic see is the top diocese and central government of the Roman Catholic Church with universal authority.

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. Also, the Pope is not the Holy See, he is only representing the Holy See, alongside with other members of the Catholic Church. It instead operates under a different set of laws sede vacante. And the easiest way to understand it is to know that the Vatican City State was established in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and the Lateran Treaty was established between the Holy See and Italy.

( Log Out /  For other uses, see, Episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, Italy, Traditional ecclesiastical jurisidictions of, Relationship with the Vatican City and other territories, Although Saint John Lateran is legally within Rome, it is one of the properties of the Holy See granted, The Holy See is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and a sovereign entity recognized by international law, consisting of the pope and the, These criteria for statehood were first authoritatively enunciated at the, "The golden key, which points upwards on the, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Catholicos of the East, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate of Ethiopia, Eritrean Orthodox Patriarchate of Eritrea, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Libellus de imperatoria potestate in urbe Roma, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See, intergovernmental international organizations, Multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fundamental Statute for the Secular Government of the States of the Church, History of the Catholic Church since 1962, Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State, Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, List of diplomatic missions of the Holy See, Section for Relations with States (Roman Curia), Coats of arms of the Holy See and Vatican City, Postage stamps and postal history of Vatican City, Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici, Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, various sites in Rome and two Italian sites outside of Rome, treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Global organisation of the Catholic Church, "Holy See's Presence in the International Organizations", "Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles", "These 7 nations are ruled by an absolute monarchy! There are 13 internationally recognized states with which the Holy See does not have relations. The Agreement concerns the situation of the Church, in particular a specific issue which is the appointment of bishops.”, “The aim is the unity of the Church.

The Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes, Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes]; Italian: Santa Sede [ˈsanta ˈsɛːde]), also called the See of Rome, is the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope, which includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome with universal ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the worldwide Catholic Church, as well as a sovereign entity of international law, governing the Vatican City. | Sed Sensus Profundior. website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. The Holy See for its part, issued a similarly terse statement, written in Italian, English and Chinese. And it is that chair, the seat of the Bishop of Rome, that the Catholic Church is governed.

By Joyce Chepkemoi on August 1 2017 in Politics. Bernardo Cervellera, editor of the missionary news agency AsiaNews, which covers the church in China closely, noted that in the two years since the agreement was originally signed, persecution of Christians by the Chinese authorities has only increased, with churches destroyed, priests detained and young people barred from religious services.