During a 1919 conference at theLeague of Nations, a motion was proposed to encourage international cooperation with the Holy See. The motion, encouraged by delegations in Belgium and Switzerland, was adopted by a majority of participants, although it met resistance from the United Kingdom and Italy. Reports indicated that the Holy See regretted its exclusion and wished to be admitted to the League of Nations.
In 1923 however, the Holy See took a different position and stated that its only competency was in matters of elucidation of questions of principle in morality and public international law. In 1924, the Holy See received an invitation from a British delegate to become a member of the League, but this proposition received no official reaction from other Member States.[2]
When it became clear that the ongoing territorial dispute with Italy (resolved with 1929'sLateran Treaty) precluded it from joining the League, the Vatican supported the activities ofl'Union Catholique d'Etudes Internationales, a lobby group whose members mainly comprised Catholic activists employed as League officials. Prominent members includedGonzague de Reynold andOskar Halecki, while the League's first and second Secretaries-General,Eric Drummond andJoseph Avenol, were sympathetic to the organization's aims. The group had particular success in promoting the Holy See's vision of international affairs within theInternational Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, forerunner to UNESCO.[3]
It would seem undesirable that the question of the membership of the Vatican State be raised now. As a diminutive state the Vatican would not be capable of fulfilling all the responsibilities of membership in an organization whose primary purpose is the maintenance of international peace and security. ... Membership in the organization would not seem to be consonant with the provisions of Article 24 of theLateran Treaty, particularly as regards spiritual status and participation in the possible use of force. Non-membership would not preclude the participation of the Vatican State in social and humanitarian activities of the organization nor impair its traditional role in the promotion of peace by its usual influence.[4]
Secretary Hull did notdistinguish between the Holy See and theVatican City State; and second, at the time membership in the United Nations was still limited to theAllies of World War II. Neither the Holy See nor the Vatican City State chose to apply for UN membership at that time.
As a matter of diplomatic courtesy, since 1964, the Holy See was also allowed to make formal policy statements in the General Assembly, both during the General Debates and during the discussion of the various separate issues contained in the agenda of the General Assembly.[5] Notably, popesPaul VI,[6]John Paul II,[7][8]Benedict XVI,[9] andFrancis[10] were invited to address the General Assembly.
In addition, the Holy See was invited to observe all open meetings of the intergovernmentalsubsidiary bodies of the General Assembly. The Holy See was frequently allowed to participate in the private negotiations leading to the adoption of the General Assembly's decisions and resolutions. The Holy See was not allowed, however, to co-sponsor draft decisions or resolutions, to make points of order, or to exercise the right of reply. If the Holy See wished to circulate written proposals or position papers, it required the assistance of a member state that was willing to present those proposals or papers as its own.
The Holy See took advantage of the prerogatives of its observer status to incorporate itsChristian values within the decisions and recommendations of the United Nations. Notable was a successful effort, in cooperation with like-minded countries, to ensure the adoption of a United Nations Declaration banning all forms of Human Cloning,[11][12][13][14][15] and it opposed the adoption of aresolution on sexual orientation and gender identity proposed by the European Union in the General Assembly; a similar UNHRC-specific resolution on LGBT rights proposed by the Republic of South Africa was successfully passed in the United Nations Human Rights Council.[16]
In a 2025 interview,Pope Leo XIV said he recognised that the United Nations "has lost its ability to bring people together on multilateral issues".[17][18]
From 1999, thenon-governmental organizationCatholics for Choice lobbied against the participation of the Holy See in the United Nations. Supporters of this campaign argued that the Holy See is a religious organization and not a state, and that, therefore, it should not have the right to participate, in a position analogous to that of states, in the intergovernmental decision-making process on social, cultural, and economic matters. They also cited the lack of equal status for other religions and the Vatican representatives' history of pushing Catholic views on reproductive health.[19]
In 2004, the UN General Assembly confirmed the Holy See's status as a Permanent Observer. Currently, the Holy See has the right to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly and to intervene in the discussion of any issue inscribed in the agenda of that assembly. It has the right to participate in all meetings open to all Member States, the right to make points of order and to exercise the right of reply, the right to circulate proposals and position papers as official documents, and the right to co-sponsor draft resolutions and decisions. Commenting on its status, ArchbishopCelestino Migliore, the then Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations, said "We have no vote because this is our choice." He added that the Holy See considers that its current status "is a fundamental step that does not close any path for the future. The Holy See has the requirements defined by the UN statute to be a member state and, if in the future it wished to be so, this resolution would not impede it from requesting it."[20]
The Holy See is also an observer to theUnited Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), attending all of its meetings and able to make proposals and policy statements regarding all issues that are of concern.[21] Since 22 July 1977, the Holy See has had a standing invitation to attend the sessions ofECOSOC's regional commissions on an equal footing with those State Members of the United Nations who are not members of those regional commissions.[22] In addition, the Holy See enjoys full membership in somespecialized agencies of the United Nations dependent on ECOSOC such asWIPO,ITU, andUPU. In order to follow the work of those ECOSOC subsidiary bodies and agencies that meet regularly in Geneva, the Holy See has established aPermanent Observer Mission in Geneva.
Having observer status at the United Nations, the Holy See is also able to observe all open meetings of theUnited Nations Security Council. Occasionally, the Holy See has asked and been allowed to make statements in public meetings of the Security Council. The Permanent Observer spoke against war inIraq shortly beforethe invasion,[23] on the regulation of armaments,[24] and on the protection of civilians during armed conflicts.[25] On some occasions, the Holy See has submitted documents to the Security Council, such as the 29 April 2003 statement of Patriarchs and Bishops of Iraq on religious freedom.[26]
Meanwhile, the Holy See does not recognizePeople's Republic of China, a permanent member of the UNSC, as a legitimate state.
At the world conferences on social and economic issues
The Holy See has also been an active participant in the World Conferences on social and economic issues convened by the United Nations.[27] It had a major impact on the negotiations and outcome of the1994 Cairo Population Conference,[28] the1995 Beijing Conference on Women,[29] and the 2001 General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS.[30]
1954 Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
24 Feb 1958
1955 Agreement on Signs for Road Works, amending the European Agreement of 16 September 1950 supplementing the 1949 Convention on Road Traffic and the 1949 Protocol on Road Signs and Signals
1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention)
1977Protocol I relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts[35]
12 Dec 1977
21 Nov 1985
1977Protocol II relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts
12 Dec 1977
21 Nov 1985
1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons)
1993 Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention)
^Quoted in:James Crawford,The Creation of States in International Law (1979) p. 156.
^For statements by the Holy See Mission made after 2003:The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations."Statements of the Holy See Mission".holyseemission.org. Archived fromthe original on 9 October 2003. Retrieved22 March 2017. Statements from 1987 to 2003 can be found at
^"Invitation to the Holy See to attend sessions of the regional commissions".undocs.org. 22 July 1977. Decision 244 (LXIII). E/6020. Retrieved22 March 2017.At its 2078th meeting, on 22 July 1977, the Council decided to recommend the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Economic Commission for Latin America, the Economic Commission for Africa and the Economic Commission for Western Asia to invite the Holy See to attend sessions of these commissions on a basis similar to that provided for in the relevant terms of reference applicable to States Members of the United Nations not members of the commissions.
^"General Assembly Resolution 58/314".undocs.org. 1 July 2003. Retrieved22 March 2017. Paragraph 1 extends to the Holy See the same procedural rights that it enjoys in the UN General Assembly to all UN Conferences.
^The invitation to participate in the negotiation of the treaties commonly takes the form of anall-states formula, that includes not only the Member States of the UN but also the members of its specialized agencies and theInternational Atomic Energy Agency. See, for example, the decision to launch negotiations in 1997Terrorist Bombing Convention:UNGA Res 51-210, para. 9
^When the Holy See announced its decision to adhere to theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it declared that it was doing it in order to "give its moral support to the principles that form the base of the treaty itself."
^When ratifying the 1977 Protocols, the Holy See declared:
its strong conviction as to the fundamentally inhumane nature of war. The humanization of the effects of armed conflicts, such as that undertaken by the two Protocols, is received with favor and encouraged by the Holy See in so far as it aims to alleviate human suffering and strives, amid unbridled passions and evil forces, to safeguard the basic principles of humanity and the supreme benefits of civilization. The Holy See expresses, moreover, its firm belief that the ultimate goal, that which is worthy of the calling of man and of human civilization, is the abolition of war. One cannot help thinking that the measures embodied in the Geneva Conventions and more recently by the two Additional Protocols—measures which are already in themselves frail instruments for the protection of victims of conventional armed conflicts—would prove to be not only insufficient but totally inadequate in the face of the ruinous devastation of a nuclear war. (Holy See's 21 Nov 1985 declaration at the Ratification of Optional Protocols I and II)
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