By Zenith News
In the context of Pope Francis’ annual audience with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, the Vatican Press Office made known the present state of diplomatic relations up to January 2025. At present, 184 States have full diplomatic relations with the Holy See. To these must be added the European Union and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. There are 90 Diplomatic Missions accredited to the Holy See with headquarters in Rome, among them those of the European Union and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Also with headquarters in Rome are the accredited Offices to the Holy See of the League of Arab States, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
During 2024 there were some relevant diplomatic milestones. Signed on October 11 was the Second Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the Holy See and Burkina Faso on the legal status of the Catholic Church in Burkina Faso. On October 22, the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China (with which the Holy See does not have diplomatic relations) agreed to extend for another four years the validity of the Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops, effected on September 22, 2018 and renewed on October 22, 2020. Finally, on October 24 an Agreement was signed between the Holy See and the Czech Republic on specific legal questions. The United Nations Organization recognizes officially, with special statutes, 193 countries in addition to Palestine and Vatican City State. This means that, of the 194 countries, the Holy See does not have diplomatic relations with ten, the majority being Communist States (China, North Korea and Vietnam), Islamic States (Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Brunei and Somalia), as well as Laos, Bhutan and Tuvalu. Hence, the Vatican is one of the “countries” with the largest diplomatic relations in the world.
