¶ … Vatican City in Rome. Vatican City is actually a city-state located within the city of Rome, Italy. It came into existence in 1929, and is governed by the Pope. As a city-state, it is considered a country, making it the smallest country in the world, with only 800 residents. Before 1929, Popes had been living in the area that is now Vatican City since the 1300s, so the area has been considered holy for centuries.
Romans referred to the area known as the Vatican by that name since ancient times. It was a marshy area near the capital, where there were several villas and buildings. It gained religious importance because St. Peter was supposed to have been martyred in the area, and his tomb was built there (in St. Peter's Basilica) ("Vatican City in the Past"). Peter's tomb is the most ancient structure in the Vatican; it started construction around 324 A.D. Buildings began to appear around St. Peters, and Popes Eugene III (1145-1153) and Innocent III (1198-1216) built buildings there, as well. From 1309, the Pope moved to Avignon, France, and the Vatican area was left abandoned for over a century. The popes returned to the Vatican in 1377, but it was another two centuries before real building and expansion took place ("Vatican City in the Past").
The first great chapel built in the Vatican was the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican City Web site notes, "Between 1477 and 1480 Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1492) started building a great chapel, named 'Sistina' after him, decorated with frescoes painted by the major Italian painters of the time. It was inaugurated on 15th August 1483" ("Vatican City in the Past"). This of course, is the famous chapel where painter Michelangelo painted the ceiling, and it is still standing today. In the 16th century, Pope Julius II began many massive building projects, including a new St. Peter's Basilica, which Michelangelo designed and built. Julius also added the Belvedere Courtyard. Later, St. Peter's dome and St. Peter's Square were added to the Vatican, along with many other service...
Of course, such hurried indifference was seen within the Council from start to finish. The primary order of business was to set the sequence of schemas to be discussed. Complementary to this business was the matter of choosing bishops and periti to sit on commissions for the drafting of schemas. Though the proposed schemas had already been drafted, the liberal element was able to persuade John XXIII to abandon them since
Vatican Council II (1962-1965). Seven Sources. Vatican Council II (1962-1965) In the forty years since the completion of the Vatican Council II, the controversy has yet to cease. There is still passionate debate between church conservatives, who feel the council went too far, and liberals, who feel church politics has prevented the original vision from becoming a reality. One side feels that the council was inspired by the devil, while the
Second Vatican Council and the Traditionalist Backlash The Second Vatican Council is unique in the Catholic Church's near 2000-year history. From 1962 to 1965 the massive council met in Vatican City to update the Church's stance on liturgical and theological matters. By adopting what Popes John XXIII and Paul VI called a "pastoral attitude" toward the fulfillment of the needs of modern man, the Council attracted media coverage unparalleled by
Italy, Vatican "Good evening viewers, it is on this day that history was made within the Roman Catholic Church. In today's bulletin, I will take through information in relation to the appointment of the new pope, his first days in the office, and historical perspectives of the act. I am your reporter Pelletta Vendetta, welcome to the show." "On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI and the incoming Pope Castel Gandolfo shared a
By about 400 AD, the old social and physical structures of Rome were in decline, the city losing power both within its own empire and within the West as a whole (Miles 41). The decline of the old order in Rome allowed a space for the ascension of Christianity, which began in the first century AD. For the first two centuries of the Christian era, Roman authorities classified Christianity as
Geography of Europe Current religious trends in Europe can largely be traced to one of three significant factors. The first is the increase of Muslim immigration. The second is the decline of Soviet-Style Communism, which had an official atheist ideology. Finally, there is the question of the long-term prognosis for religion in Western Europe, as more people identify themselves as non-religious or as atheists. The growing Islamic presence in Europe is a
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