Holy See

The Holy See, from the Latin Sancta Sedes meaning Holy Chair, is the central governing authority of the Catholic Church and of Vatican City, representing the office of the Pope as bishop of Rome and functioning as both the spiritual and administrative authority for worldwide Catholicism. Under international law the Holy See holds sovereign juridical status and maintains diplomatic relations with 180 states. Catholic tradition holds that the apostolic see was established in the first century by Saint Peter and Saint Paul; territorial grants in 728 and 756 gave rise to the Papal States, which the Holy See governed from 756 until 1870, when it lost temporal territorial control, restored in 1929 through the Lateran Treaty, which established the independent city-state of Vatican City. The Holy See is a unitary theocratic elective absolute monarchy, currently headed by Pope Leo XIV, with Cardinal Pietro Parolin serving as Cardinal Secretary of State, a role equivalent to a prime minister, and administered through the Roman Curia, comprising the Secretariat of State, nineteen dicasteries, three tribunals and various councils and commissions. Although often called the Vatican, the Holy See and Vatican City are legally distinct: the Holy See is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, while Vatican City is its territorial base.