 Glorija's Vatican City Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | Interesting Secrets of the Vatican | April, 2005 |  8 |
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| Page Views: 232 Last Visit to Vatican City: April, 2005 | Interesting Secrets of the Vatican by Glorija - last update: Aug 2, 2007 |
Vatican police force = Corpo della Gendarmeria As per the 1929 Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, the Italian government handles the prosecution and detention of criminal suspects.
The most recent murders to occur in the Vatican were in 1998, when a member of the Swiss Guard killed the Commander of the Guard and the Commander's wife before committing suicide. |
| Me and Zdenka inside the Vatican Museum |
CrimeAs a result of the Vatican having a small resident population, but millions of visitors every year, the state has the highest per capita crime rate of any nation on earth, more than twenty times higher than that of Italy. In his 2002 report to the pontifical court, Chief Prosecutor Nicola Picardi quoted statistics of 397 civil offenses and 608 penal offenses. Each year, hundreds of tourists fall victim to pickpockets and purse snatchers. The perpetrators, Italian rather than Vatican citizens, are rarely caught, with 90% of crimes remaining unsolved. |
Punishments?The Vatican abolished capital punishment in 1969, although it had never been used prior to its abolition. The last execution performed by its predecessor, the Papal States, was on 9 July 1870 at Palestrina, when Agabito (or Agapito) Bellomo was executed for murder. |
A little about economyThe Vatican City issues its own coins. It has used the euro as its currency since January 1, 1999, owing to a special agreement with the EU (council decision 1999/98/CE). Euro coins and notes were introduced in January 1, 2002--the Vatican does not issue euro banknotes. Issuance of euro-denominated coins are strictly limited by treaty, though somewhat more than usual is allowed in a year in which there is a change in the papacy. Because of their rarity, Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors. Until the adoption of the Euro, Vatican coinage and stamps were denominated in their own Vatican lira currency, which was on par with the Italian lira.
Budget: Revenues (2003) 252 million USD; expenditures (2003) 264 million USD! |
Vatican militaryThe Vatican City State has the distinction of having the smallest and oldest regular army in the world, the Swiss Guard. It was founded by Pope Julius II on January 22, 1506, and originally made up of Swiss mercenaries from the Swiss Confederation. They currently number a little over 100 men and are also the personal bodyguards of the Pope. Recruitment is restricted to Catholic male Swiss citizens.
The Palatine Guard and the Noble Guard were disbanded during the reign of Pope Paul VI in 1970.
The Corpo della Gendarmeria acts as the internal police force. Its full name is Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano although it is sometimes still referred to as Vigilanza, which is a shortening of an earlier name.
The Vatican has no navy and no air force. External defense is handled by the surrounding state of Italy. |
| Praying for all of us ... |
Pope The Pope (from Latin: papa, Papa, father; from Greek: papas / παπάς = priest - originating from πατήρ = father ) is the Bishop of Rome, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City.
He is held as the Successor of Saint Peter, making him, for Roman Catholics, the Vicar of Christ. The office of the Pope is called the Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See (Sancta Sedes in Latin) or Apostolic See (this latter, on the basis that both St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred at Rome).
Early bishops occupying the See of Rome were designated Vicar of Peter; for later Popes the more authoritative Vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation was first used by the Roman Synod of 495 to refer to Pope Gelasius I, an advocate of papal supremacy among the patriarchs. Marcellinus (d. 304) is the first Bishop of Rome whom sources show used the title of Pope. In the 11th century, after the East-West Schism, Gregory VII declared the term "Pope" to be reserved for the Bishop of Rome. The current (265th) Pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in papal conclave.
In addition to his service in this spiritual role, the Pope is also Head of State of the independent sovereign State of the Vatican City, a city-state entirely enclaved by the city of Rome. |
Musei Vaticani Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again?
The founding of the Vatican Museums can be traced back to 1503 when the newly-elected Pope, Julius II della Rovere, placed a statue of Apollo in the internal courtyard of the Belvedere Palace built by Innocent VIII; he brought the statue from the garden of his titular church of St. Peter in Chains. In 1506 the Laocoon was added to the collection, after its discovery on the Esquiline Hill before the eyes of Giuliano di Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti.
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Scores of artifacts were added throughout the next two centuries and the collections were eventually reorganized under Benedict XIV (1740-1758) and Clement XIII (1758-1769). They founded the Apostolic Library Museums: the Sacred (Museo Sacro - 1756) and the Profane (Museo Profano - 1767).
The Christian Museum, comprising finds from the catacombs that could not be conserved in situ, was founded by Pius IX in 1854 in the Lateran Palace and was moved to the Vatican Museums by Pope John XXIII.
Pope Pius XI inaugurated in 1932 the definitive seat of the Vatican Picture Gallery (the Pinacoteca), near the monumental entrance of the Vatican Museums. |
| The end of the Vatican beauty |
sau Statul VaticanInside the Vatican
Catholic News Magazine
Inside the Vatican is the world’s most well-informed, comprehensive monthly Catholic news magazine on what is going on inside the Vatican, at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church.
And here the story ends I guess ... |
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| Glorija's Vatican City Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | Interesting Secrets of the Vatican | April, 2005 | 8 |
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 Comments for Glorija about Vatican City | | | | |
Redang Tue Jul 31, 2007 17:46 UTC
Greetings from hot Madrid! | Mikebond Sat May 28, 2005 14:43 UTC
Very beautiful photos and tips! I haven't been to Roma and Vaticano yet, but I will go soon, hopefully! | scottishvisitor Mon May 2, 2005 21:46 UTC
Great art work to be found here Good start to your page |
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