The Holy See (the Symphony That Never Ends)

In Homeline the Pope is the sovereign of Vatican City, the smallest state in the world. In Shikaku-mon the Holy See is treated as an independent state which owns no territory at all. The constitution of the Italian Republic gives the Church special legal privileges in Italy, including the equivalent of diplomatic immunity for Pope Innocent VII and his staff.
The Holy See has considerably more wealth and power in Shikaku-mon than in Homeline or most other developed timelines, in large part because Catholics make up almost half of the world's population and at least 90% of its elites. The influence of the Holy See in the world of diplomacy is considerable, and all important governments (except the Swedes) pay attention to it. It has a permanent (nonvoting) observer on the High Council of the CEM, which it helped design.
But while the Holy See is wealthy and influential, it is not very holy. It often seems to act more like a multinational corporation than a relihious body. Many Catholics are quietly scandalized by the seemingly exclusive concern of the Holy See for worldly affairs, and are considering it increasingly irrelevant as a religious authority.
Incidentally, Vatican II never happened and the reforms of 20th-century Homeline never took place. Mass is still said in Latin throughout the world.
Category:Organizations
Category:Christianity
Category:The Symphony That Never Ends
Category:Nations