Vatican City
Summary
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, the plight of refugees and migrants, sexual misconduct by clergy, international development, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1.3 billion people worldwide profess Catholicism – the world’s largest Christian faith. [1]
📷: Wikipedia
Statistics
From the The Joshua Project [2]
In the News
📷: Wikipedia
Prayer Guide
The loss of credibility through numerous scandals, aggressive papal doctrinal positions and sustained decline in vocations (of priests, monks and nuns) will force many changes on Catholicism; pray for wisdom in adapting the Church to 21st Century realities.
Pray for spiritual renewal. Catholic charismatic renewal has an impact far beyond the 235 countries and 120 million involved. Pray for them to be a bridge to believers in other denominations and to not be absorbed or rendered ineffective by the system. A large proportion of the Catholic missionary force is charismatic. At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church is expanding in many spiritual directions – theological conservatism, charismatic renewal, Marian devotion, folk religious practices and others. Pray for nominal Catholics – many millions strong – to experience the radical conversion and cultural transformation that their pontiff insists is essential to faith. [3]