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Article: The conclave: the election of a new Pope.
- Article from:
- Faces: People, Places, and Cultures
- Article date:
- September 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Stato della Citta del Vaticano (the State of Vatican City) is one-eighth the size of New York City's Central Park, one-fourth the size of Monaco, and smaller than the average 400-home suburban neighborhood. Vatican guides report that most people can walk the perimeter of the Vatican in 60 minutes or less.
Yet this tiny independent state (the world's smallest) maintains a position of great global importance. Why? Vatican policies influence more than 960 million Roman Catholics, citizens of virtually every other nation on Earth. Although the Vatican maintains a neutral international status, world leaders regularly ask the pope and other Vatican officials for ...