Vatican City, Oct 21, 2011 / 10:25 am
Pope Benedict XVI used his address to the new ambassador from the Netherlands to outline how the Catholic Church views its role in diplomatic relations.
“In acting as a voice for the voiceless and defending the rights of the defenseless, including the poor, the sick, the unborn, the elderly, and the members of minority groups who suffer unjust discrimination,” said Pope Benedict, “the Church seeks always to promote natural justice as it is her right and duty to do.”
Although the terms “Vatican State” and “Holy See” are often used interchangeably they are very different things.
According to international law and diplomatic custom, it is the Holy See and not the Vatican City State that is the recognized “legal personality” of the worldwide pastoral ministry of the Bishop of Rome as head of the Catholic Church. Therefore the Holy See existed for centuries as a diplomatic entity before the creation of the Vatican City State in 1929.
And it is the Holy See, not the Vatican City State, which exchanges diplomatic representations with 179 countries and is also represented at many inter-governmental bodies including the European Union and the United Nations.
Pope Benedict explained to the new Dutch Ambassador, Joseph Weterings, that the relationship between the Holy See and other states was “clearly of a different character from those between nation-states.”