Popes in their secular role ruled portions of
the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th
century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom
of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome
itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and
Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the
independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status
in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain
of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as
the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include religious
freedom, threats against minority Christian communities in Africa and the
Middle East, international development, interreligious dialogue and
reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid
change and globalization. About 1.2 billion people worldwide profess the
Catholic faith.
(Source: The World Factbook 2009.
Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009)
For more information about Vatican:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
