The Vatican City State Should not be Recognized as a State
The Vatican City State Should not be Recognized as a State Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s ex-butler who was sentenced for 18 months in prison because of leaking confidential documents of the Vatican to the press, was recently released. Pope Benedict XVI, who was both victim and supreme judge in the case, pardoned him for his actions. It seems that the Vatican applies quite a flexible law, different from how we know it, especially because there is no separation of powers: the Pope has not only the executive, but also the legislative and judicial power. Even more remarkable were the cases concerning pedophile priests, who were found guilty of raping children. They were trialed under canon law, which in the worst case means being excommunicated. Often these priests are moved to other countries and let off with an admonition. Moreover, the Vatican courts still use a medieval written procedure for its cases and do not make any use of modern facilities such as DNA-testing. Being a recognized state, the Vatican can make its own decisions. The question is, how the Vatican became a state, what it does as a state and why other countries accept this position. The roots of the Vatican becoming a state, can be found in the deal that was made between Mussolini and the Pope, in the Lateran Treaty, in 1929. Based on that treaty, the Holy See, the executive power of the Vatican, is still recognized under international law as a sovereign state, since it maintains diplomatic relations with 179 states. Though it is questionable if the Holy See indeed fulfills the criteria of statehood. One of the criteria is having a permanent population, yet, the population consisting of Swiss Guards, Cardinals, diplomats and employers of the Vatican all have their own nationality. On top of that, the population is not permanent, and often they do not live in the Vatican City State itself. The Holy See is a member-state in multiple international organizations and participates as an observer in
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