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Holy See

Also Known As The Holy See · Apostolic See
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The Holy See is the jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome: the government of the Catholic Church, and a sovereign subject of international law in its own right. It is not the same thing as Vatican City. The city state was created by the Lateran treaty of 1929 to give the See a territory it could not be deprived of, while the See itself is the older entity, the one that appoints bishops, signs concordats and exchanges ambassadors with the great majority of the world's states. When a pope dies the See does not lapse; it is described as vacant, and the distinction between the office and the man who holds it is the clearest sign that the two are separate things. In English the word Vatican is often used for both.

Facts
Finances
Institutional Wealth or Finances
APSA (the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See), the Holy See's central property and treasury office, reported in its 2022 annual report that it directly administers 4,072 properties, chiefly in Italy and the Rome area with a smaller number in London, Paris, Geneva and Lausanne, and estimated the total value of the patrimony it controls at more than 2.8 billion euros. This covers APSA's own administered real estate and financial patrimony, not the Vatican Museums' art collection or Saint Peter's Basilica, which are held separately and carry no comparable market valuation. 3
Institutional Wealth or Finances
The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR, the Vatican bank), one financial institution among several bodies handling Holy See and Vatican finances rather than a figure for the Holy See as a whole, reports net equity of 815.3 million euros and total client assets under deposit, management and custody of 5.9 billion euros as of 31 December 2025, up from 731.9 million euros and 5.7 billion euros respectively a year earlier, in its own audited annual report. The Institute posted a net profit of 51 million euros for 2025 and proposed a dividend of 24.3 million euros to the Commission of Cardinals in support of works of religion and charity. This figure is distinct from the other wealth facts already recorded on the Holy See, which concern APSA and the Secretariat for the Economy. 4
Institutional Wealth or Finances
The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR, the Vatican Bank), the one entity authorized to carry out professional financial activities within Vatican City State, reported total client assets under management, covering deposits, current accounts, asset management and securities under custody, of 5.7 billion euros at the end of 2024, with a net profit of 32.8 million euros, up 7 percent from 2023. 5
Institutional Wealth or Finances
The Secretariat for the Economy's 2023 consolidated financial statement, covering the Holy See's central administration but mostly excluding both the government of Vatican City State and the Institute for the Works of Religion, reported income of about 1.25 billion US dollars against expenses of about 1.34 billion US dollars, an operating deficit of just over 90 million US dollars for the year. 6
Basis of the Wealth Figure
Audited Annual Report 4
Financial Disclosure Regime
The Holy See publishes annual figures through APSA and the Secretariat for the Economy and, separately, through the IOR's own annual report, a practice of voluntary disclosure the Secretariat for the Economy began under financial reforms started in the 2010s. It is not subject to any outside country's nonprofit or securities disclosure law, and it sets its own scope and detail for what it publishes. 7
Wealth Figure As Of Year
2022 3
Wealth Figure As Of Year
2023 6
Wealth Figure As Of Year
2024 5
Wealth Figure As Of Year
2025 4
Open Questions
Institutional Wealth or Finances
No credible total value exists, or can exist, for the Vatican taken as a whole including Saint Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums' art and antiquities collections. These holdings are inalienable, never offered for sale, and carried on the Holy See's own books at a nominal value; a Vatican accountant has described Saint Peter's Basilica itself as listed at a symbolic one euro. Figures in the hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars circulate in popular reporting, but they are informal appraisals of what the art might fetch on the open market if it were ever sold, which it will not be, not a disclosed or auditable figure. 7
The individual institutions that make up the Holy See publish their own figures (APSA's administered patrimony, the Secretariat for the Economy's consolidated statement, the IOR's assets under management, all recorded above), but none of them, nor any combination of them, includes a valuation of the inalienable art and buildings, and no audited or official total for the Vatican as a whole has ever been published.
Attributions
Associated ReligionSourced to the subject's own account
Catholicism. The See is the government of the Catholic Church, and the law it administers is the law of that church rather than of a territory. 1
Religion and State
State Religion
Catholicism, in a form that has no parallel: the See is a church government that is also a sovereign subject of international law, exchanging ambassadors with most states, and Vatican City exists to give it a territory it cannot be deprived of rather than to be a country in the ordinary sense. 2
Religious PolicySourced to the subject's own account
It governs the Catholic Church through canon law: appointing bishops, erecting and suppressing dioceses, reserving certain judgements to itself, and holding the authority the 1983 Code assigns to the Roman Pontiff over the whole church. 1
Origins
Origin Region
Rome. The See is the jurisdiction of the bishop of that city, and the Lateran treaty of 1929 gave it the small territory of Vatican City so that its sovereignty should not depend on any other state. 2
Learn More
A Sovereign That Is an Office, Not a Territory

The Holy See is a jurisdiction rather than a country, and international law has treated it as a sovereign subject on that basis. It signs treaties, receives and sends ambassadors, joins international organisations and maintains diplomatic relations with the great majority of the world's states, and it did all of those things during the period between 1870 and 1929 when it held no territory whatever.

Vatican City is a separate thing, a small state created in 1929 so that the See would have ground it could not be deprived of, and the two are frequently confused in ordinary usage. The clearest demonstration that the See is the office and not the place is what happens when a pope dies or resigns. The See does not lapse; it is described as vacant, its ordinary business is suspended, a limited administration continues under fixed rules, and the diplomatic relations remain in being until a successor is elected.

Eamon Duffy's history of the papacy follows how an episcopal see acquired that standing over many centuries, and how contested it was at every stage. For the atlas the distinction matters practically, because a great deal of what is popularly attributed to the Vatican is properly an act of the Holy See, and the two have different legal identities.

Sixty Years Without a Country

For most of the modern period the pope was also a temporal ruler, governing the Papal States across central Italy. Italian unification took those territories, and in 1870 Italian troops entered Rome itself. The papacy refused to accept the loss, declined to leave the Vatican palace, and for the next fifty nine years successive popes described themselves as prisoners and stayed inside the walls. David Kertzer's account of the period examines how that refusal was maintained and what it cost both sides, including a papal instruction discouraging Italian Catholics from voting in the new state's elections.

The dispute was settled in 1929 by the Lateran treaty, which recognised Italian sovereignty over the former papal territories, created the Vatican City State, and provided compensation. That settlement is why the modern Holy See has a territory at all, and why the territory is deliberately tiny: the point was never to govern a population but to guarantee that no other government could reach the See. The period is worth recording in a religious atlas because it shows a religious institution operating for two generations with international standing, a diplomatic corps and worldwide authority while occupying about fifty hectares by refusal rather than by right.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

This source names Holy See directly: "1860 Concordat between Haiti and the Holy See remains in legal effect today, subject to a 1984 amendment that removed the president's former right to nominate bishops, and that it continues to..."

Source 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: HaitiUnited States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom

This source names Holy See directly: "a concordat between the Church and the Holy See from being concluded."

Source 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: LiechtensteinUnited States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom

This source names Holy See directly: "framework the 1964 Convention with the Holy See put in place, and that other registered religious groups are formally eligible for the same funding even though most of it goes to Catholic..."

Source 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: VenezuelaUnited States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom

This source names Holy See directly: "1997 Framework Agreement between the Holy See and Gabon in its original French text with no added commentary, read here as a primary source."

This source names Holy See directly: "maintained diplomatic ties with the Holy See continuously through and after independence in 1962, that Algeria's constitution names Islam the state religion while Catholicism remains licit with..."

Source Algeria-Holy See Relations (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article records that the Holy See and the government of Laos have never established diplomatic relations, so the office titled Apostolic Delegate to Laos is not a diplomatic post: the..."

Source Apostolic Delegation to Laos (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "between Antigua and Barbuda and the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "full diplomatic relations with the Holy See on 9 March 1983, during Pope John Paul II's visit to the country, and that the Apostolic Nunciature to Belize is combined with the nunciature to El..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Belize (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "Agreement between Cameroon and the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article records that the Holy See established an Apostolic Delegation to Scandinavia on 16 March 1960, covering Denmark alongside the other Nordic states, with the first Apostolic..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Denmark (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "It names no concordat or bilateral treaty between Dominica and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Dominica (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "the Apostolic Nunciature to Fiji, the Holy See's diplomatic post in Fiji with its representative ranked as ambassador, and that Angelo Acerbi was already serving as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio from 6..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Fiji (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "It names no concordat or bilateral treaty between Grenada and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Grenada (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article records that the Holy See maintained an apostolic delegate to Honduras from 1908 and appointed its first Apostolic Nuncio in 1933, and that for fifty years the same prelate..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Honduras (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "It names no concordat between Indonesia and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Indonesia (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "It names no concordat or bilateral treaty between Jamaica and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Jamaica (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "treaty between Kyrgyzstan and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Kyrgyzstan (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "It names no concordat or bilateral treaty between Moldova and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Moldova (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article on the Holy See's diplomatic mission to Morocco records Sante Portalupi adding the title of Pro-Nuncio to Morocco on 5 March 1976, the earliest dated papal representative to..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Morocco (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "September 1923 and that Panama and the Holy See marked a full century of diplomatic relations in April 2024."

This source names Holy See directly: "between Saint Kitts and Nevis and the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "treaty between Saint Lucia and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Saint Lucia (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "Vincent and the Grenadines and the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article records that the Holy See and Samoa established diplomatic relations on 10 June 1994, and that the Apostolic Nuncio to Samoa is ordinarily the same prelate appointed Apostolic..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Samoa (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "diplomatic relations with the Holy See, tracing the mission from Jean-Marie Maury's 1959 appointment as Apostolic Delegate for French West Africa through his elevation to the first Apostolic Nuncio..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Senegal (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "treaty between Tajikistan and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Tajikistan (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "Federated States of Micronesia and the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "on 24 August 1994, with the Holy See and the Kingdom of Tonga entering diplomatic relations the following year, and that the Apostolic Nuncio to Tonga is ordinarily the same prelate appointed..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Tonga (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "between Trinidad and Tobago and the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "treaty between Turkmenistan and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Turkmenistan (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "It names no concordat or bilateral treaty between Uruguay and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Uruguay (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "treaty between Uzbekistan and the Holy See."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Uzbekistan (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "Apostolic Nunciature to Vanuatu, the Holy See's diplomatic post in Vanuatu with its representative ranked as ambassador, was established on 20 July 1994, and that the Apostolic Nuncio to Vanuatu is..."

Source Apostolic Nunciature to Vanuatu (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "its diplomatic relationship with the Holy See, read 2026-08-22."

This source names Holy See directly: "between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Holy See, signed in April 2006 after six years of lobbying by church officials, regulating the Catholic Church's legal status: recognizing its public juridical..."

This source names Holy See directly: "relations between Burundi and the Holy See on 16 December 1962 during a papal visit by the Burundian king, deepened by the creation of the Apostolic Nunciature on 11 February 1963, one of the..."

Cao Dai, Sources

This source names Holy See directly: "claimed by the Cao Dai Tay Ninh Holy See itself."

Source Cao Dai

This source names The Holy See directly: "the Vatican and canonically linked to the Holy See, working across more than 200 countries and territories through member bodies that range from small diocesan agencies to some of the world's..."

Source Caritas Internationalis: Who We AreCaritas Internationalis

This source names Holy See directly: "that diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Mongolia were established on 4 April 1992, that the Catholic Church in Mongolia is governed as an Apostolic Prefecture rather than a full diocese..."

Source Catholic Church in Mongolia (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article traces Chile-Holy See relations from the 1925 constitutional separation of church and state, through a failed 1928 concordat effort blocked by Chile's own patronage system, to..."

This source names The Holy See directly: "Its publication led directly to the closure of Ireland's embassy to the Holy See later that year."

Source Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of CloyneCommission of Investigation (Judge Yvonne Murphy, chair)

This source names Holy See directly: "Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine, signed 26 June 2015 by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher and Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki and entered into..."

This source names Holy See directly: "President Rafael Carrera and the Holy See, entrusting popular education to Catholic religious orders, imposing mandatory tithing and allowing episcopal censorship of publications in exchange for..."

Source Concordat of 1854 (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "then under Rafael Trujillo, and the Holy See under Pius XII, which names Catholicism the state religion and grants the Church clergy exemption from military service, permission to teach in public..."

This source names Holy See directly: "and modus vivendi texts between the Holy See and individual states, many in English translation for the first time, alongside background articles written from a secularist, anti-concordat point of..."

This source names Holy See directly: "and modus vivendi texts between the Holy See and individual states, many in English translation for the first time, alongside background articles written from a secularist, anti-concordat point of..."

This source names Holy See directly: "hosted text of the 1997 Hungary Holy See finance concordat, a secondary compilation of the primary agreement rather than a government page."

This source names Holy See directly: "and modus vivendi texts between the Holy See and individual states, alongside background articles written from a secularist, anti-concordat point of view."

This source names Holy See directly: "and modus vivendi texts between the Holy See and individual states, many in English translation for the first time, alongside background articles written from a secularist, anti-concordat point of..."

This source names Holy See directly: "of the 1980 Peru concordat with the Holy See, giving its signing, approval and ratification dates."

Source Concordato de Peru de 1980 (Wikipedia, Spanish)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "narrowed the 1973 concordat with the Holy See to bring it into line with the 1991 secular Constitution."

This source names Holy See directly: "directly for this pass, states the Holy See formally banned cremation in 1886 in response to Masonic advocacy of the practice as a rejection of Christian resurrection belief, a prohibition carried..."

This source names Holy See directly: "whose diplomatic relations with the Holy See, dating to 1935, were never broken, that Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis visited in 1998, 2012 and 2015 respectively, and that Francis used..."

Source Cuba-Holy See Relations (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "Nien newspaper's report on the Cao Dai Holy See of Tay Ninh's 2025 Hoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung feast, describing over one hundred exhibition booths of flowers and fruit, hundreds of thousands of expected..."

This source names Holy See directly: "The Cao Dai Holy See Church of Tay Ninh's own news page for its 2025 Hoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung feast, held 6 October 2025, reporting roughly one hundred thousand participants and one hundred seventeen..."

This source names Holy See directly: "authority and in communion with the Holy See."

This source names Holy See directly: "The Holy See Press Office's official bulletin of 17 January 2020, recording that Cardinal Pietro Parolin and President Felix Tshisekedi exchanged instruments of ratification for the Framework..."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Holy See Press Office bulletin records that on 23 August 2018, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cotonou, the Holy See and the Republic of Benin exchanged the instruments of ratification..."

This source names Holy See directly: "temple of Caodaism, at the Cao Dai Holy See complex in Tay Ninh province, Vietnam, oriented east to west and measuring 97.5 metres long by 22 metres wide, with a two-towered western facade."

This source names Holy See directly: "the Great Divine Temple at the Cao Dai Holy See in Tay Ninh, covering its construction history, dimensions, its three-part Hiep Thien Dai, Cuu Trung Dai and Bat Quai Dai structure and the Divine Eye..."

This source names Holy See directly: "observance, held at the Tay Ninh Holy See on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the same date as Vietnam's wider Mid-Autumn Festival."

Source Cao Dai

This source names Holy See directly: "own bilateral-relations page for the Holy See, naming the Agreement on Cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Holy See in the Field of Higher Education, signed 27 June 2014, as the one..."

Source Holy See (Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bilateral Cooperation)Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia

This source names Holy See directly: "on a fiscal treatment pact between the Holy See and Albania, read for its account of the 2002 Agreement Between the Holy See and the Republic of Albania on the Regulation of Their Mutual Relations..."

This source names Holy See directly: "The Holy See Press Office's communique of 24 October 2024 announcing the agreement signed in Prague by Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Prime Minister Petr Fiala, a sixteen-article accord on religious..."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article covers Holy See-India relations from the Apostolic Delegation to the East Indies in 1881 through Pope Pius XII's 1948 elevation of the delegation to an internunciature..."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article covers Holy See-Japan relations, noting that Japan became the first Asian state to hold full diplomatic relations with the Holy See, established in 1942 under Emperor Showa..."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article records that the Holy See and Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations on 17 October 1992, that President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an Agreement between the Republic of..."

Source Holy See-Kazakhstan Relations (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article traces Mexico-Holy See relations from the nineteenth century Reform War rupture through the 1917 Constitution's anticlerical provisions to the restoration of full diplomatic..."

This source names Holy See directly: "full diplomatic relations between the Holy See and North Macedonia were established on 21 December 1994, noting that the Holy See recognized the country by its United Nations reference designation..."

Source Holy See-North Macedonia Relations (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article traces Holy See-Papua New Guinea relations from an initial 1947 Apostolic Delegation for Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, through a 1976 Apostolic Delegation of Papua New..."

Source Holy See-Papua New Guinea Relations (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "diplomatic relationship between the Holy See and the Philippines, one of two Catholic-majority states in Asia, including the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila and the Philippine Embassy to the Holy See..."

This source names Holy See directly: "diplomatic relationship between the Holy See and the Republic of China, established 23 October 1942 and maintained continuously since, making the Holy See the only European state among Taiwan's..."

This source names Holy See directly: "This Wikipedia article traces Holy See representation in Turkey from the Apostolic Delegation to Constantinople, established in 1868 under the Ottoman Empire, through its renaming to Apostolic..."

Source Holy See-Turkey Relations (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "article traces relations between the Holy See and England or the United Kingdom from the first resident ambassador in 1479 through the 1536 and 1570 ruptures under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I to the..."

This source names Holy See directly: "The temple's design echoes the movement's Holy See at Tay Ninh, with its distinctive Divine Eye above the altar, and it serves one of four Cao Dai congregations now active in the Houston area."

This source names Holy See directly: "founded in Paris in 1833, received Holy See recognition in 1845, and today counts roughly fifty thousand local Conferences present in more than 140 countries and territories."

This source names Holy See directly: "The Holy See's own register of international associations of the faithful, used for the confederation's founding history, Paris 1833, its 1835 name, Holy See recognition in 1845, its governance..."

This source names Holy See directly: "by Saudi Arabia and Austria with the Holy See as a founding observer, publishes its 2024 annual report on its own site alongside prior years."

This source names Holy See directly: "Austria, Saudi Arabia and Spain, its Holy See founding observer status, its 2022 move to Lisbon and its religion-representative Board of Directors."

Source KAICIID Dialogue Centre (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

This source names Holy See directly: "Statute between Portugal and the Holy See, through the Frelimo government's nationalization of church assets and suspension of all subsidies on independence in June 1975 under President Samora..."

This source names Holy See directly: "tomb and the Cao Dai Holy See, the religion's central temple."

This source names Holy See directly: "The Andrew Lam segment page describes his visit to the Cao Dai Holy See at Tay Ninh, Vietnam, and PBS's own text names Cao Dai as "an early effort to globalize world religions," founded in 1926 by..."

This source names Holy See directly: "of its diplomatic relations with the Holy See, naming the 2004 concordat and the treaty it replaced."

This source names The Holy See directly: "The Holy See Press Office's 2025 press release on the Institute for the Works of Religion's 2024 annual report."

This source names Holy See directly: "Tunisia's 1964 Modus Vivendi with the Holy See, concluded under pressure from President Habib Bourguiba's government, which grants the Catholic Church official recognition while explicitly..."

This source names The Holy See directly: "to the closure of the Irish embassy to the Holy See later that year."

Source Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of CloyneCommission of Investigation (Judge Yvonne Murphy, chair)

This source names The Holy See directly: "a two year investigation, into what the Holy See knew and when about Theodore McCarrick's sexual abuse of minors and misconduct with seminarians and adults across decades."

This source names Holy See directly: "Between God and Man depicted at the Holy See in Tay Ninh, in scholarly depth."

The jubilee is proclaimed by the pope and centres on the Roman basilicas.

This source names Holy See directly: "of the eighth lunar month, the Cao Dai Holy See Church of Tay Ninh held its annual Hoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung, the Feast of the Jade Pool Palace honoring the Mother Goddess and the Nine Fairy Maidens and..."

This source names Holy See directly: "Agreement between Angola and the Holy See, under which the government recognizes Catholic wedding ceremonies without requiring a separate civil ceremony, and records the 2020 seizure and closure of..."

Source US Department of State, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: AngolaUnited States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom

This source names Holy See directly: "under its 1852 concordat with the Holy See rather than registration as an ordinary association, and its receipt of state funds for the repair and maintenance of church buildings alongside exemption..."

Source US Department of State, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Costa RicaUnited States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom

This source names Holy See directly: "between the United States and the Holy See: the 1797 to 1870 consular relationship with the Papal States, the long gap that followed, and the establishment of full diplomatic relations on 10 January..."

Source US Department of State, Background Note: Holy See (Archived)United States Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs

This source names Holy See directly: "This Crux article reports the Holy See Press Office announcement of 22 October 2024 that the previously secret Provisional Agreement on the appointment of bishops in China, first signed in September..."

This source names Holy See directly: "Papal Representative, permitting the Holy See a resident representative and office in Hanoi for the first time since before 1975, a step the Vatican itself called short of full diplomatic relations..."

Related To

The Papal States were the territory the See ruled until 1870.

The See is the government of the Catholic Church.

Vatican City is the territory created for the See in 1929; the See is the sovereign entity, and the two are not the same thing.

Sources
1. Code of Canon Law (Codex Iuris Canonici)
Holy See, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983the holders' own accountView the Source
2. Lateran Treaty
The Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, 1929
3. Transparency in Service to the Mission of the Church: APSA Releases 2022 Financial Report
Vatican News, 2023View the Source
4. Istituto per le Opere di Religione, Annual Report 2025
Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), audited by Deloitte and Touche S.p.A., 2026View the Source
5. Press Release: IOR Annual Report 2024
Holy See Press Office, 2025View the Source
6. New Report Suggests Long-Term Worries for Vatican Finances
Crux, 2024View the Source
7. How Much Money Does the Catholic Church Have?
Marketplace (American Public Media), 2023View the Source
Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes
Eamon Duffy, Yale University Press, 2006View the Source
Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes' Secret Plot to Capture Rome from the New Italian State
David I. Kertzer, Houghton Mifflin, 2004
Open Questions (1 open question)
What Would a Credible Total Valuation of the Vatican, Including Its Art and Buildings, Require?

The Vatican's most valuable holdings, Saint Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums' collections, are inalienable and never appraised for sale, so there is nothing to price against a market the way an ordinary asset is valued. The Holy See's own financial disclosures (APSA's patrimony report, the Secretariat for the Economy's consolidated statement, the IOR's own report) each cover a defined administrative scope and none of them attempts a valuation of the art or the buildings themselves.

What would resolve this There is no method that would settle this honestly, since a genuine market valuation would require a willingness to sell that the Holy See has never expressed and that the objects' religious and cultural status makes very unlikely ever to exist. What would change the picture is not a single figure but a named methodology the Holy See itself adopted and published for insurance or heritage purposes, stating clearly that it is not a sale value.
Cultural heritage economics and museum insurance valuation practice, in dialogue with the Holy See's own financial administration.How Much Money Does the Catholic Church Have?

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