NEW ZEALAND
Gisborne Herald
January 31, 2021
By Matthew Epsom
One of New Zealand’s diplomatic relations is actually not with another country, but with a peculiar legal corporate person under international law called the Holy See.
The Holy See is often mistakenly referred to as the Vatican. However, the Vatican and the Holy See are not the same things.
Vatican City is a sovereign country whose ruler happens to be the pope. The pope has absolute unchecked power within his realm which makes Vatican City the world’s only elected non-hereditary absolute monarchy, and the pope, effectively, a king.
The reason why we seldom hear about the king of Vatican City is because while pope and king are two distinct offices, they just happen to be occupied by the same person at the same time.
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