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Holy See

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Vatican City

Pope Benedict XVI Roman Curia Secretariat of State Roman Congregations Vicariate General of Rome Vatican City Pontifical Commission President Conclave Lateran Treaty

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The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the government of the Roman Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, currently Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, and performs all the political and diplomatic functions of Vatican City and the Holy See. The Secretariat is divided into two sections, the Section for General Affairs and the Section for Relations with States, known as the First Section and Second Section, respectively.^[1]

The Section for General Affairs handles the normal operations of the Church. In the Vatican, the first section organizes the activities of the Curia and appointments to curial offices, maintains papal documents, keeps the papal seal and Fisherman's Ring, handles the concerns of embassies to the Holy See, and publishes official communications. Abroad, the first section is responsible for organizing the activities of nuncios around the world in their activities concerning the local church.^[2]

The first section is headed by an archbishop known as the Substitute for General Affairs. The current Substitute is Fernando Filoni.

• Angelo Cardinal Dell'Acqua (17 February 1953 – 29 June 1967)
• Giovanni Cardinal Benelli (29 June 1967 - 3 June 1977)
• Giuseppe Cardinal Caprio (14 June 1977 - 28 April 1979)
• Eduardo Cardinal Martínez Somalo (5 May 1979 - 23 March 1988)
• Edward Cardinal Cassidy (23 March 1988 - 12 December 1989)
• Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re (12 December 1989 - 16 September 2000)
• Leonardo Sandri (16 September 2000 - 1 July 2007)
• Fernando Filoni (1 July 2007 - present)

The Section for Relations with States is responsible for the Holy See's interactions with civil governments. The second section organizes the actions of nuncios with the local government, enters concordats and treaties with other states, and represents the Holy See in international organizations, such as the United Nations. The second section also participates in the organization of the various particular churches in communion with Rome in conjunction with the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and the appointment of bishops to local dioceses in conjunction with the Congregation for Bishops.^[3]

The second section is headed by an archbishop known as the Secretary for Relations with States. The secretary is often called the foreign minister of the Vatican. The current Secretary for Relations with States is Dominique Mamberti.

• Secretariat of State by Giga-Catholic Information
• Profile of the Secretariat from vatican.va
• The Pope's Team: the Vatican's Secretariat of State from Catholic Culture

1. ^ Pope John Paul II (1998), Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Article 40
2. ^ Ibid, Articles 41-44
3. ^ Ibid, Articles 45-47

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