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Abstract: There are many religious actors in world politics but only one of them represents more than one billion people, has an historical record as a political actor, is the only religious actor with a special status in the UN, has full diplomatic relations with most states, acts as a norm entrepreneur in the global public sphere and, nevertheless, attracts almost no attention from IR scholars: the Holy See.
The Holy See is the pope as a subject of international law. The unique persistence of a monarchical principle in the transformations of world politics can be explained by themany levels the pope can act on: those of the Vatican State, diplomatic relations, and the transnational church. The pope's activities on all these levels constitute a multilayered actorness with increasing influence on the global public sphere.
Keywords: Holy See, pope, Catholic Church, Vatican state, international relations
INTRODUCTION: THE POPE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
'The Holy See' is the legal term in international relations and international law for the pope. The Holy See, literally the cathedra, the chair of St. Peter, means the pope as a person, including his higher administrative staff (curia), who acts as a sovereign within his church, within his city state, and particularly within the international soci- ety of states. The pope as a person has the status of a juridical personality in inter- national affairs (Arajou, 2001; Arajou/Lucal, 2005: 1-16).
The Holy See is thus at the same time both less and more than the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has more than one billion members and is, despite its hierarchical structure, a very heterogeneous organization. Some attention in politi- cal research (Byrnes, 1991; Casanova, 1994) has been paid to Catholic elements ranging from Catholic NGOs to religious movements around Marian apparitions, and from bishops and theologians engaged in very diverse political theologies to Catholic lay people in politics and public life. A study of the Holy See is thus less than a study of the Catholic Church.
At the same time, though, analyzing the Holy See is more than a study of the Catholic Church. The legal frame work of the Holy See not only secures for the pope and his men the leadership of the Catholic Church as a transnational...