allow those with an objection to war to serve in a non-combatant role. An
additional factor that has increased the attraction of pacifism for many has been
the threat that nuclear war, and perhaps any war fought with modern
technology, threatens the ecological safety of the entire world. Despite this,
pacifism occupies an unusual political position as an idea respected and
protected but almost completely ignored by governments. Were pacifism ever
to become sufficiently popular actually to restrict war-making capacity, it is
likely that it would also cease to be a protected minority view.
Papacy
The papacy is not only the Pope himself, but also the administrative organiza-
tion, thecuria, through which the Roman Catholic Church both directs its
operations for its estimated 1,100 million members world-wide, and conducts
political and diplomatic business with governments and non-religious institu-
tions. For the latter the papacy relies on the fact that the small precinct of inner
Rome where the church has its headquarters, the Vatican City, is recognized
universally as an independent state with full diplomatic status. The current
existence of this papal state is a product of a long and complicated historical
process in Italy. From medieval times until the 18th century the papacy had
controlled large areas scattered throughout Italy, and run them just as any other
local feudal lord. Indeed the revenues from these papal states were the main
income for the church. With the rise of the various city states of northern Italy,
the impact of the Napoleonic invasions and the creation of small monarchies in
other, mainly southern, parts of the peninsula, the papal states were steadily
diminished. TheRisorgimento, the process which eventually led to the unifica-
tion of Italy under a single monarchy in 1870, finally forced the papacy back to
part of Rome and a few small holdings in neighbouring territories. It was
under the fascist dictator BenitoMussolinithat the position of the Vatican
City was formalized. Mussolini, though opposed to the church, needed its
acquiescence to his rule because of the powerful holdRoman Catholicism
still retained over the population. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 recognized the
sovereignty of the papacy over the Vatican City and paid compensation to the
Church for the lands it had lost in the Risorgimento. The Concordat of the
same year made Roman Catholicism the state religion of Italy, and awarded it
various other privileges. Although in some ways it is absurd to treat the Vatican
City as a real state, it has proved extremely useful to many nations to behave as
though it were one. Over 60 nations have diplomatic missions to the papacy,
and the Vatican appoints its own ambassadors (apostolic pro-nuncios) to many.
From time to time the papacy can act in an international political context by
assisting in negotiations where normal governmental and diplomatic contacts
would be mistrusted. As the central directing organization of by far the largest
Papacy