Tomorrow, Thursday, is the National Day of Vatican City.

Vatican City is a city state that came into existence in 1929 and is thus distinct from the central authority of the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Holy See, which existed long before 1929. Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian, official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities even have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, only issues diplomatic and service passports; the state of Vatican City issues normal passports. In both cases the passports issued are very few.

Vatican City, formally state of the Vatican City or Vatican City State, is a sovereign polis whose territory consists of a landlocked enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. The entire state is about 44 hectares and is thereby considered a European microstate. It is the smallest independent nation in the world.

Since it is governed by the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), its government can be described as ecclesiastical, and the highest state of functionaries are clergymen.

The Vatican City is situated on the Vatican Hill in the northwestern part of Rome, several hundred meters west of the Tiber river, on the latter’s right bank. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all within Italy) closely follow the city wall constructed centuries ago to protect the Pope from outside attack. The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter’s Square in front of the St. Peter’s Basilica, where the border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernini’s colonnade.

Vatican City has its own constitution, postal system, seat, flag, and other symbols of statehood. The Vatican also has its own army, the Swiss Guard, numbering about 100 soldiers. Vatican Radio is the official radio station, and powerful transmitters beam “The Pope’s Voice’’ to a global audience.

Vatican City is the last remnant of the Papal States, a swath of territories in central Italy acquired over the centuries by the Catholic Church and governed by the Pope.

We congratulate the people of Vatican City and His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, and Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, on the occasion of its National Day.