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How the Vatican's Embassies Work
How the Vatican's Embassies Work
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0:00
on the margins statehood starts to get
0:03
subjective there are plenty of countries
0:05
whose status as sovereign states is
0:07
never really refuted France Japan the us
0:11
there are also some that nearly no one
0:13
recognizes as sovereign states the saari
0:16
Arab Democratic Republic Northern Cyprus
0:18
South Atia in between is the subjective
0:21
line representing near Universal
0:24
recognition by other countries there are
0:26
nations that start to approach this line
0:28
exhibiting most tenants of statehood yet
0:31
lacking the sort of near Universal
0:33
recognition that leads to the colloquial
0:35
status of countryhaven Palestine most
0:38
notably but then directly on the other
0:41
side of the line is One Singular example
0:44
of a state that simply does not exhibit
0:46
many perhaps even most of the
0:48
traditional characteristics of sovereign
0:50
statehood yet enjoys near Universal
0:53
unequivocal recognition as a sovereign
0:56
state that is the
0:58
Vatican perhaps most damningly the
1:01
Vatican has no real permanent population
1:04
there are always people there but each
1:06
really only lives there while they're
1:07
working there Vatican citizenship exists
1:10
but nobody is born into it it isn't
1:12
passed down from generation to
1:14
generation it isn't granted as a
1:16
Birthright meaning nobody perceives
1:18
themselves from birth till death as a
1:21
well there actually isn't a word for
1:22
that there isn't even a universally
1:24
recognized term to refer to someone from
1:26
the Vatican because nobody's from the
1:29
Vatican it is the only country in the
1:32
CIA World Factbook for example that just
1:34
doesn't have a demonym listed because
1:36
everyone who holds Vatican citizenship
1:38
was born into another citizenship and
1:40
nationality and predes themselves
1:42
primarily as Italian American
1:44
Argentinian whatever the Vatican also
1:47
lacks a real economy its main economic
1:49
activity is selling tickets to its
1:50
museums it doesn't have a Healthcare
1:52
System residents go to Italy for almost
1:54
all medical care it doesn't have an
1:56
independent legal system Italian law
1:58
applies in most cases Ian courts
2:00
prosecute most crimes Italian prisons
2:02
house most of the convicted there's no
2:04
formal education system little Commerce
2:06
Beyond a grocery store and some tourist
2:08
shops hardly a distinct cultural
2:10
identity outside of the churches when
2:11
you look at it objectively the Vatican
2:14
is hardly a nation and yet it enjoys
2:16
complete near universally recognized
2:19
Sovereign statehood of course around the
2:21
world there are plenty of non-sovereign
2:24
entities that view themselves as
2:26
Sovereign and therefore operate within a
2:28
given territory as if they were but what
2:30
they lack is international recognition
2:32
of their sovereignty the Vatican does
2:34
have international recognition meaning
2:36
it has the extremely valuable and unique
2:39
right to engage in the formal process of
2:42
international diplomacy no other church
2:45
has this right not Islam not Judaism not
2:48
Hinduism not even any other Christian
2:50
denomination this one church can set up
2:53
embassies appoint ambassadors even set
2:55
up representation at the United Nations
2:58
historically there have been a good
3:00
number of examples of religious
3:01
authorities holding Sovereign territory
3:04
but without fail every single instance
3:06
faded away even those of the Catholic
3:09
church for the majority of the last
3:11
Millennium the papacy exercised
3:13
sometimes loose sometimes firm
3:14
sovereignty over much of modern-day
3:16
Italy in the late 1700s the Papal States
3:19
were larger than today's Netherlands and
3:21
even included an exclave in France but
3:23
this Legacy came to an abrupt end on
3:25
September 20th 1870 when troops of the
3:28
newly born Kingdom of Italy marched into
3:30
Rome and captured it following a brief
3:32
battle with papal forces the kingdom did
3:35
offer the papacy ownership and
3:37
non-sovereign control over the leonine
3:39
city the area that encompasses today's
3:41
Vatican City as well as a sizable annual
3:43
stipend to pay for the operations of the
3:45
Holy sea and Broad guarantees of
3:46
sovereignty in their operations after
3:48
all the kingdom still needed to play
3:50
nice with the church as Italy was a
3:51
predominantly Catholic Nation meaning
3:53
many of its residents were loyal to the
3:55
pope but the pope quickly rejected
3:57
Italy's offer since doing so would
3:59
effectively act as recognition of their
4:01
power over the conquered territory and
4:02
since he believed that the church needed
4:04
sovereignty entirely independent from
4:06
that of any political power as they had
4:08
had for the last Millennium so rather
4:11
for the following 60 years each
4:12
successive pope from the moment they
4:14
were elected never left the Vatican they
4:17
believed doing so could be interpreted
4:19
as accepting the legitimacy of Italian
4:21
rule but when musolini came into power
4:23
in 1922 he wanted to win the support of
4:25
Italian Catholics so he entered into
4:27
negotiations with the papacy to resolve
4:29
the conflict which finally culminated in
4:31
the 1929 lerin treaty this most notably
4:35
handed over sovereignty of9 square miles
4:38
or 49 Square km of land to the holy sea
4:41
thereby forming the smallest independent
4:44
country in the world as an independent
4:47
country the Vatican does mirror a rough
4:49
fimile of traditional government but its
4:52
exact form of governance is entirely
4:54
unique it is the only non-hereditary
4:57
elected absolute monarchy in the world
5:00
one of the many authorities wrapped up
5:01
in the pope title is effectively King of
5:04
the Vatican he is an absolute monarch
5:06
with unchecked authority over all
5:08
legislative executive and judicial
5:10
decisions but it is the only instance of
5:12
an absolute monarchy where the ruler is
5:14
elected rather than pulled from a line
5:16
of succession as the pope is selected
5:18
from the pool of cardinals through the
5:20
famed conclave election despite his
5:22
supreme authority the pope has long
5:24
delegated his authority to others who
5:26
actually operationally run the
5:27
government that government is what's
5:29
referred to to as the holy sea
5:31
importantly the holy sea is both the
5:34
governing body of the Vatican State and
5:36
the Roman Catholic Church that's to say
5:38
there's zero distinction between the
5:41
state and the church they are quite
5:43
literally the same thing the holy SE
5:45
administrative functions are encompassed
5:47
by a body called the Roman curia which
5:49
itself is made up of 16 different
5:50
dicasteries or departments the oldest
5:53
most powerful and most important
5:55
dicastri is the Secretariat of State led
5:58
by the Secretary of State who
6:00
effectively acts as the prime minister
6:01
of the Holy sea of course the Secretary
6:04
of State position like in any government
6:06
is that in charge of diplomatic
6:07
functions meaning Foreign Relations hold
6:10
a central supreme position within the
6:12
Vatican government one of the functions
6:15
he supervises is the operations of 117
6:17
Apostolic nuns globally that effectively
6:20
function as embassies but here's where
6:22
things get weirder nun seaters are
6:24
treated as diplomatic missions and
6:26
therefore enjoy all the Privileges that
6:28
embassies and consulant do like
6:30
diplomatic immunity freedom of
6:31
communication exemption from local taxes
6:33
and laws and more yet the nunur don't
6:36
actually represent the Vatican State
6:39
they represent the holy sea this small
6:42
distinction adds to the count of
6:44
anomalies in the ways the Vatican and
6:46
holy sea operate the holy sea is more or
6:49
less the government of the Vatican that
6:52
government is in this case operationally
6:55
Inseparable from the state but not all
6:57
governments are so that means that is
6:59
not too different from say the American
7:02
Republican party the British labor party
7:04
the Chinese Communist party any
7:06
governing Authority having diplomatic
7:08
representation abroad governments
7:10
themselves are not typically allowed to
7:12
do that but the reason why this is
7:14
possible at all is that the holy city
7:16
the body in charge of the sovereign
7:18
state of the Vatican is itself
7:21
considered a sovereign entity it's not
7:24
the only instance of a non-territorial
7:26
organization holding sovereign powers
7:29
the UN has has some the Red Cross as
7:31
well and the most direct equivalent is
7:32
that of The Sovereign military Order of
7:34
Malta another Catholic institution but
7:37
there's not even broad consensus on why
7:39
the holy sea itself has sovereignty some
7:42
argue that it's because of the latter in
7:44
treaty as in addition to the
7:45
establishment of a Vatican state it
7:47
recognized the holy sea as a sovereign
7:49
entity but this is quickly refuted by
7:51
the fact that across the six decades
7:53
that the holy C lacked territory it was
7:55
still recognized as a sovereign entity
7:57
by most of the world it's still engaged
8:00
in formal diplomacy so the real
8:02
explanation seems to be in the
8:04
unsatisfying fact that everyone has
8:06
always kept treating it as a sovereign
8:08
entity and therefore it is one
8:11
interestingly the Vatican State itself
8:14
does have some International
8:15
representation it's a member of the
8:17
international Postal Union the
8:19
international telecommunications Union
8:21
the world intellectual property
8:22
organization and a number of other
8:24
institutions more closely related to the
8:26
administration of the city state itself
8:28
meanwhile the holy C is the entity that
8:31
is more commonly represented in anything
8:33
relating more to International
8:34
policymaking particularly it's the
8:36
entity that does the majority of
8:38
interfacing with other countries in the
8:39
United Nations just a 15-minute walk
8:42
from the un's headquarters down
8:43
Manhattan's 43rd Street past the mission
8:45
of the Marshall Islands in India down
8:47
Third Avenue and past the mission of New
8:49
Zealand is the holy Seas permanent
8:51
Observer mission to the UN Within These
8:53
Walls it's a fairly small operation
8:56
there's Archbishop Gabrielle Casia the
8:58
apostolic Nuno effectively the head
9:00
Diplomat two counselors to the
9:01
Archbishop five attaches and a handful
9:04
of college age interns from around the
9:05
world while comparatively light in Total
9:08
Staffing this office stays busy
9:10
principally in efforts to communicate
9:11
the church's stance on any and all
9:13
issues brought forth at the UN in just
9:15
the months of April 2024 for example
9:18
this Mission commented on 13 separate
9:20
occasions at un proceedings with
9:22
Archbishop cassia offering statements at
9:24
un mainbody institutions like the
9:26
general assembly and Security Council as
9:28
well as smaller more specific
9:29
institutions like the six committee
9:31
which considers the un's legal questions
9:33
and the permanent Forum on indigenous
9:35
issues not technically a stat but a body
9:38
administering a sovereign state the holy
9:40
sea shares the distinction with
9:41
Palestine as one of only two non-member
9:44
Observer States at the UN even if the
9:46
holy sea itself is not technically a
9:48
state on top of a unique standing the
9:50
holy sea has a unique backstory as to
9:53
how it got recognition which in turn
9:55
informs its unique role at the UN it
9:57
began with a world verging on nuclear
9:59
war when Pope John the 23d boldly
10:02
entered the Diplomatic fold like no
10:04
modern Pope prior as tensions reached
10:06
their Peak with the Cuban Missile Crisis
10:08
in 1962 the pope went as far as reaching
10:10
out directly to Nikita Kev and US
10:12
leadership as well as publicly pleading
10:14
with the non-catholic populace of the
10:16
Soviet block and really the world via
10:18
radio for peace this soft but very real
10:21
influence of perhaps the world's most
10:22
recognizable moral Authority caught the
10:24
attention of the UN Secretary General EU
10:26
Fant after personally visiting the
10:28
Vatican meeting with with the new Pope
10:30
Paul v 6 Fant accepted the holy Sea's
10:32
request to become a permanent Observer
10:34
with the informal addition the holy sea
10:35
could observe comment and maintain seats
10:38
at the un's general assembly but it
10:40
couldn't vote for its part though the
10:42
holy seed did not and maintains it still
10:44
does not want a vote that's on account
10:47
of the foundational agreement that made
10:48
a sovereign Vatican possible in the
10:50
first place and simultaneously calls
10:52
into question the extent of its
10:53
sovereignty within the latter in treaty
10:55
article 24 ensured that the vatican's
10:57
representative wouldn't take sides in
10:59
issues between states nor enter any
11:01
International congresses unless able to
11:03
pursue its pacifist Mission without bias
11:06
because the morally oriented diplomacy
11:08
of the Vatican lines up Rather cleanly
11:10
with the four pillars of the UN the
11:12
pursuit of peace and security human
11:13
rights the rule of law and development
11:15
the holy sea is comfortable associating
11:17
with the international organization but
11:19
such permanent neutrality would be
11:20
undercut by a vote to enact sanctions
11:23
against a nation for example rather than
11:25
a vote the church's influence over un
11:27
proceedings is largely through Ric
11:29
something it doesn't take lightly as
11:31
four separate popes have taken the time
11:33
to visit and speak at the UN and
11:35
generally it's rare for the church to
11:37
take on an issue or stance very
11:39
controversial or counter to the
11:40
organizations given the similarity in
11:42
State admissions but some issues do
11:44
require Nuance the ethics of an un
11:48
stance on human cloning for example had
11:50
member states largely stumped in the
11:52
early 2000s in the wake of scientists
11:54
first successful reproductive cloning of
11:56
an animal for France and Germany the
11:58
Breakthrough in cloning cling Dolly the
11:59
sheep required an immediate stance on
12:01
the part of the International Community
12:03
that reproductive cloning of humans
12:04
should be immediately banned this seemed
12:06
a popular and straightforward stance for
12:08
the UN to adopt but then came the holy
12:11
sea through comments made by
12:13
representative Renato Martino in late
12:15
2001 who argued that the band didn't go
12:17
far enough a simple issue took on a new
12:19
dimension certainly direct reproductive
12:22
cloning should be baned but what about
12:23
therapeutic cloning and the process of
12:25
using human stem cells for medical
12:27
purposes that certain countries had
12:28
already legalized Iz and lean into it
12:30
was undeniably a scientific breakthrough
12:33
but one that the holy sea saw as an
12:34
unethical affront to human dignity as
12:37
human embryos in the church's view were
12:39
nothing less than human beings and thus
12:41
using embryos for medical purposes was
12:43
destroying One Life to help another now
12:46
the issue had become more complicated
12:48
and the UN resolved to consider drafts
12:50
of both types of ban in the following
12:52
session what followed was a splintering
12:54
the French and German proposal on an
12:56
immediate ban of strictly reproductive
12:58
Clon came forward as did an alternative
13:01
stricter ban from the US in Costa Rica
13:04
that largely represented the holy sea
13:05
stance while another effort led by Iran
13:08
and backed by many Muslim members sought
13:10
to push a moratorium on the vote for two
13:12
years by a single vote the Iranian
13:15
moratorium passed but the holy sea was
13:17
undeterred and continued the moral
13:19
lobbying on the part of the church
13:21
across the following vote free such
13:22
persistence ultimately paid off as the
13:25
return of the issue in ' 05 resulted in
13:26
a ban on human cloning far wider
13:28
reaching than that initially introduced
13:30
in 01 while fairly vague in its language
13:33
non-binding in its terms and far from
13:35
unanimous in its outcome the ban passed
13:38
by popular vote most closely represented
13:39
the views of a member state that was
13:41
unable to cast a vote on the matter
13:44
beyond the UN and Beyond human cloning
13:46
this largely moral ideological and
13:48
peace-oriented Mission informs holyy
13:51
diplomacy across all of its
13:52
international relations Syria as a
13:55
nation for example has a religious
13:57
composition that's roughly 90% Muslim
13:59
and less than 10% Christian only a
14:01
fraction of which being Catholic and yet
14:04
the holy sea in Syria have maintained
14:05
diplomatic ties since 1953 with a
14:08
long-standing Nuno set up in Damascus
14:10
such a presence and relationship has
14:12
benefited both sides in 2000 with the
14:15
death of HZ al-assad and subsequent
14:17
question of who the next Syrian
14:19
president would be Syrian officials
14:20
expressed hope that mediation through
14:22
Pope John Paul II would be possible and
14:24
a decade later seen as unbiased and not
14:27
politically motivated the pope and the
14:28
holy not the UN were again viewed by
14:31
Muslim leaders as some of the last
14:33
viable peace Brokers once the Syrian
14:35
Civil War erupted Beyond a broad moral
14:38
obligation to pursue peace such good
14:40
moral standing in middle eastern African
14:42
and Muslim majority countries also
14:44
allows the holy sea to keep tabs on and
14:46
advocate for the rights of Christian
14:47
minority populations within such
14:49
countries too in Indonesia a Muslim
14:51
majority country with which the holy sea
14:53
has had good standing with since its
14:55
early recognition of Indonesian
14:56
Independence Christians have run into
14:58
difficulties getting permits to build
14:59
places of worship to this religious
15:01
minority these obstructions have come to
15:03
represent a passive sort of religious
15:05
oppression and a supposedly tolerant
15:07
Nation yet they're hopeful with a 2024
15:10
visit from the pope Indonesian
15:11
Christians are believing again that a
15:13
reignited respect between the country
15:15
and the holy sea will serve as a step
15:16
towards ease tensions and fewer
15:18
restraints on building churches of
15:20
course in places where Catholicism is
15:22
the majority the Vatican maintains a
15:24
Keener interest here on the palm tree
15:27
line streets of Havana sits the
15:28
apostolic nunciature of Cuba this
15:30
colonial style building just outside of
15:32
the Oldtown is home to the
15:33
ecclesiastical Office of the Catholic
15:35
Church though the Nuno here had been
15:37
established in 1935 and played varying
15:39
roles over the decades it was in the
15:41
2010s that its prominence in geopolitics
15:43
and specifically the wests made
15:45
headlines shortly after Pope Francis was
15:47
elected in 2013 United States President
15:50
Barack Obama sent an unpublished letter
15:52
to him the timing was notable Obama had
15:54
just started his second term as
15:56
president and Pope Francis was beginning
15:58
tenure as the first pope from the
15:59
Americas the Vatican had long been
16:01
interested in what happened in Cuba from
16:03
a religious and humanitarian point of
16:05
view documents show visits and
16:07
correspondents throughout the 2000s
16:08
citing concerns about Cuban's quality of
16:10
life at the beginning of 2014 Secretary
16:13
of State John kery acknowledged the
16:14
Pope's calls for justice in Cuba and the
16:16
release of political prisoner Alan G the
16:19
holy SE embraced a mediator role with
16:21
the Pope sending letters to both Obama
16:23
and Cuban president R Castro that summer
16:25
urging them to compromise followed by
16:27
the Vatican actually hosting delegations
16:29
from both parties to moderate those
16:31
ongoing discussions that laid the
16:33
groundwork for what eventually became
16:34
known as the Cuban thaw The Diplomatic
16:36
softening between the United States and
16:38
Cuba reflected by loosen travel
16:39
restrictions Pathways to financial
16:41
transactions and a general diplomatic
16:43
openness seen in the reopening of the
16:44
Cuban Embassy on December 17th 2014
16:48
President Obama announced this
16:49
development in his speech he paid
16:51
specific attention to the holy sea in
16:53
particular I want to thank his Holiness
16:55
Pope Francis whose moral example shows
16:57
us the importance of pursuing the world
16:59
as it should be rather than simply
17:01
settling for the world as it is later
17:03
president R Castro expressed similar
17:05
sentiments while visiting the Vatican
17:06
saying quote I am very happy I've come
17:08
here to thank him for what he has done
17:10
to begin solving the problems of the
17:11
United States and Cuba and though Pope
17:14
francis's role was largely symbolic it
17:16
was also critical the Vatican doesn't
17:18
have exports and it doesn't have
17:20
Financial strings to dangle as
17:21
incentives for Global compromise but it
17:23
does have moral Authority the result was
17:26
nothing short of History making with
17:28
Cuba release and gross and the
17:29
subsequent period of tenuous diplomacy
17:31
that Cuba and America shared and though
17:33
it didn't last long under the Trump
17:35
Administration in early 2025 the Vatican
17:37
played a pivotal role in the release of
17:39
500 Cuban prisoners with American
17:40
Cardinal sha om Ali relaying messages
17:42
from the Vatican to both Cuban and
17:44
American officials relative to the size
17:47
of the state the Vatican holds real
17:49
power but that power is vested in the
17:51
country's conflation with the central
17:53
authority of one of the world's largest
17:55
religions meaning it isn't grounded in
17:57
the factors typically considered when
17:59
gauging power in terms of traditional
18:01
hard power the economic levers the
18:03
physical imports and exports the
18:05
military might the human resources the
18:07
sticks and carrots the holy Seas Vatican
18:10
flatly has none singularly the least out
18:13
of any sovereign state the holy sea can
18:16
speak its mind on any and all issues but
18:18
if push comes to shove it really can't
18:20
do anything about it so the state deals
18:23
in soft power with 117 nunur as the
18:26
physical manifestation of a remarkably
18:28
capable diplom itic arm that deals in
18:30
the gentle nudging soft power without
18:32
any hard power to back it is limited too
18:35
Beyond public Kudos the holy SE doesn't
18:37
have anything to offer Beyond public
18:39
condemnation the holy sea doesn't have
18:41
anything to Force One's hand and it
18:43
knows as much whether cloning at the UN
18:45
or relations between the US and Cuba the
18:48
holy CA has a knack for backing winners
18:50
finding broadly reasonable positions
18:52
with largely appealing moral backing
18:54
that few will take major issue with it
18:56
Fosters positive outcomes in diplomacy
18:58
by backing popular positions consider
19:01
what the holy C doesn't pursue in
19:03
international diplomacy for example
19:05
consider abortion the same logic that
19:08
informs the holy sea stance on stem
19:10
cells and therapeutic cloning doesn't
19:12
differ from that which informs its
19:13
stance on abortion life begins at
19:16
conception in the church's view so
19:18
abortion essentially represents that
19:20
same evil of harvesting embryotic stem
19:22
cells but rather than boisterously and
19:24
defiantly pursuing anti-abortion
19:26
legislation on the international level
19:28
the the holy sea lets it lie rather than
19:31
a little dog with a big bark the holy
19:33
sea is the very smallest dog that has a
19:35
bark at all perhaps then the holy Sea's
19:38
greatest strength of all as a sovereign
19:40
state is its recognition of the
19:42
limitations of its own
19:45
sovereignty you are probably busy you
19:49
probably also enjoy self-improvement and
19:52
therefore you're probably often
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