Who Gets Vatican Citizenship?

[Eric_Martin]

I’ve heard that the Catholic Church, via the Vatican being its own nation-state, is therefore a “dual-citizenship” for its members, being Catholics and ,say, Americans or Italians, Irish, etc. Is this true? If not, could you please clarify this concept for me? Thanks!

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

No, Catholics are not citizens of Vatican City State.

There are 3 groups of people that are granted citizenship by law:

• Cardinals residing in the Vatican City State or in Rome
• the Vatican’s diplomats (e.g. papal nuncios)
• the persons who reside in Vatican City State by reason of their office or service (e.g. the Swiss Guards)

A decree of citizenship can be requested by:

• persons who have obtained authorization to reside in the State, independently of any other conditions
• the spouses and children of current citizens, who are also residents, of the Vatican City State

According to the Lateran Treaty anyone who loses their Vatican citizenship and does not possess other citizenship automatically becomes an Italian citizen.