An overview of the Holy See’s diplomatic relations

By Vatican News

Pope Francis has delivered his annual "State of the World” address to members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See.

On Monday, the Holy See Press Office released a communiqué with various statistics concerning the Holy See's diplomatic relations.

In total, 184 states currently have full diplomatic relations with the Holy See. 89 of these have missions in Rome.

In addition, the European Union and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta have full diplomatic relations with the Holy See, as well as missions to it based in Rome.

The League of Arab States, the International Organization for Migration, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also have Rome-based offices to the Holy See.

Developments in 2023

On 23 February 2023, the Holy See established full diplomatic relations with the Sultanate of Oman.

On 19 July, the Holy See and Kazakhstan ratified the "Supplementary Agreement to the Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Kazakhstan on Mutual Relations of 24 September 1998," which concerns the granting of visas and residence permits to ecclesiastical and religious personnel from abroad. The agreement was signed on 14 September 2022.

On 27 July, the Holy See and Vietnam drew up an “Agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam”. The Resident Papal Representative was appointed on 23 December.