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Holy See ▢𓏺｜Definition｜1st｜20261015004146-00-⌔

Holy See - Wikipedia

Holy See

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  • Sancta Sedes (Latin)
  • Santa Sede (Italian)

The Holy See12 (Latin: Sancta Sedes, lit. ‘Holy Chair’,3 Ecclesiastical Latin pronunciation: [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes]; Italian: Santa Sede [ˈsanta ˈsɛːde]), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See,4 is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City.5 It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the apostolic episcopal see of Rome, and serves as the spiritual and administrative authority of the worldwide Catholic Church and Vatican City.6 Under international law, the Holy See holds the status of a sovereign juridical entity.7

According to Catholic historical records and tradition, the Holy See was founded in the first century by Saint Peter and Saint Paul. By virtue of the doctrines of Petrine and papal primacy, it is the focal point of full communion for Catholics around the world.8 The Holy See is headquartered in, operates from, and exercises “exclusive dominion” over the Vatican City, an independent city-state enclaved in Rome, where the pope is the elected monarch, and therefore head of state.9

The Holy See is administered by the Roman Curia, which is the central institution assisting the pope and through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted.1011 The Roman Curia includes dicasteries, comparable to ministries or executive departments. The Cardinal Secretary of State is its chief administrator. Papal elections are carried out by members of the College of Cardinals.

Although the Holy See is often metonymically referred to as the “Vatican”, the Vatican City State was distinctively established with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, agreed between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, to ensure the temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence of the papacy.12 As such, papal nuncios, who are papal diplomats to states and international organizations, are recognized as representing the Holy See and not the Vatican City State, as prescribed in the canon law of the Catholic Church. The Holy See is thus viewed as the central government of the Catholic Church and Vatican City.11 While the Catholic Church is composed of the Latin Church and 23 other particular churches or rites with their own laws and practices, the Holy See acts as the arbiter of relations between them.13

The Holy See maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with 180 sovereign states, signs concordats and treaties, and performs multilateral diplomacy with multiple intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations and its agencies, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Organization of American States.141516

Printed 2026-10-15.

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Footnotes

  1. “the Holy See”. Cambridge Dictionary. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. ↩

  2. “the Holy See”. Oxford Learners Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. ↩

  3. “the Holy See (Catholic Encyclopedia)”. 28 January 2024. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024. ↩

  4. Livingstone, Elizabeth A. (2006). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-19-861442-5. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024. ↩

  5. “Holy See | Definition, Roman Catholicism, History, Governance, Vatican, & Facts | Britannica”. Encyclopedia Britannica. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024. ↩

  6. “Holy See (10/05)”. U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024. ↩

  7. “Holy See”. United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024. ↩

  8. Holmes, J. Derek (1978). The Triumph of the Holy See: A Short History of the Papacy in the Nineteenth Century. Burns & Oates. p. 142. ISBN 978-7-80186-160-3. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024. ↩

  9. “Holy See, The country brief”. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Government of Australia). Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024. ↩

  10. “Code of Canon Law: text – IntraText CT”. Intratext.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2023. ↩

  11. United States. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs (1989). “The Holy See”. Backgr Notes Ser: 1–4. PMID 12178005. ↩ ↩2

  12. “Lateran Treaty | Italy [1929]”. Britannica. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022. ↩

  13. Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite, section 4, published on 21 November 1964, accessed on 17 June 2026 ↩

  14. “Holy See’s Presence in the International Organizations”. The Holy See. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2019. ↩

  15. “Holy See”. Travel & living abroad. Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2016. ↩

  16. “Holy See – Observer”. Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2024. ↩

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