Flag of the Vatican City

Holy See (Vatican)

Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, is a landlocked independent country, city-state, microstate, and enclave within Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See.
See also: Italy

Politically-exposed persons (PEPs)

Our database contains 156 entities identified as PEPs connected with the Vatican City.

National government positions

Number of known occupants
Head of state or governmentCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Cardinal Secretary of State-2-
Pope-21
President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State111
National executive branchesCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Archivist of the Vatican Archive-32
Delegate for Pontifical Representations-21
prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life-11
Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches--1
Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See-11
Prefect of the Vatican Archives-11
Secretary for Relations With States12-
Secretary of State2--
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity-11
Substitute for General Affairs-16
Vicar General for the Vatican City State-11
National legislative branchCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Member of the Pontifical Commission-51
National securityCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard-21
Diplomatic rolesCurrentEndedStatus unclear
ambassador of Angola to the Holy See--1
ambassador of Australia to the Holy See-1-
ambassador of Belarus to the Holy See-11
ambassador of Cameroon to the Holy See--1
ambassador of Chile to the Holy See--1
ambassador of France to the Holy See-51
ambassador of Georgia to the Holy See-11
ambassador of Guinea to the Holy See--1
ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See--1
ambassador of Israel to the Holy See-1-
ambassador of Kenya to the Holy See-1-
ambassador of Lithuania to the Holy See-1-
Ambassador of Mozambique to the Holy See-31
ambassador of Palestine to the Holy See--1
ambassador of Republic of China to Holy See-2-
ambassador of Romania to the Holy See-11
ambassador of Russia to the Holy See-12
ambassador of San Marino to the Holy See-1-
ambassador of Serbia to the Holy See-1-
Ambassador of Spain to the Holy See-61
ambassador of the European Union to the Holy See-11
ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See-1-
ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Holy See-3-
ambassador of Venezuela to the Holy See--1
ambassador to the Holy See--2
apostolic delegate-126
Apostolic Nuncio to Austria-11
apostolic nuncio to Belgium-31
Apostolic Nuncio to Canada1--
apostolic Nuncio to Haïti-22
Apostolic Nuncio to Latvia-41
Apostolic Nuncio to Poland-21
apostolic Nuncio to Spain-31
Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union-13
apostolic nuncio to United Kingdom-22
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio--1
Apostolic Vicar of Trinidad--1
Dean of the College of Cardinals-11
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe-21
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations-31
Swiss ambassador to the Holy See-2-
United States Ambassador to the Holy See-25

Intergovernmental positions

Number of known occupants
International bodiesCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Organization of American States-11
Permanent Observer to the UN, New York1--

Subnational government positions

No positions for this category

Other positions

Number of known occupants
PositionCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Catholic metropolitan archbishop--2
Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly-11
Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops-11
Apostolic Nuncio to the US1--
Pope emeritus-1-
rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross--1
Supreme Pontiff, Roman Catholic Church1--

What do these numbers mean?

We keep track both if political positions and the individuals who occupy those positions over time. Of course, a person can hold a position for multiple terms, and multiple people can occupy the same position at the same time (e.g. members of parliament).

If a person previously held a position, and currently holds the same position, they are only counted once and recorded under Current. If it is unclear from the source whether they have left the position, they will be counted under Unclear.

How can status be unclear?

Some of the data sources we rely on indicate both past and present holders of political offices. In those cases, a lack of a precise end date for a person's occupancy of a position can mean that we don't know whether they currently hold the position or not. Read more...

Data sources

We are not yet including any data published by authorities or organizations based in the Vatican City. See our global list of data sources and our criteria for selecting datasets.