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Catholicism - An Introduction: The Vatican

by Peter Stanford

When Christianity achieved official recognition from the Roman Empire in the fourth century, a basilica was built in memory of the first Pope, Saint Peter, on the spot where he had been executed. A century later, a papal palace was added. These sites form the core of what is now known as the Vatican.

Until the fourteenth century popes did not reside in the Vatican. They lived at the Lateran Palace, in the heart of the city of Rome, next to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the mother church of Rome. When they returned from exile in Avignon at the end of the fourteenth century, however, the Lateran Palace had fallen into disrepair and so popes made a home in the Vatican.

When Italian forces ended papal authority over the city of Rome in 1870, Pius IX (1846–78) retreated into the Vatican, vowing never to come out again until his sovereignty was restored. In 1929 the Italian government, under Benito Mussolini, resolved what had become an embarrassing impasse. It came to an agreement with Pius XI (1922–39), which created the Vatican City State as a new sovereign country, ruled by the Bishop of Rome. At 108 acres, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world. The resident population is around 900.


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