Vatican City

From this state within the city of Rome, the pope ministers to a flock of more than a billion Roman Catholics. The Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See created an independent Vatican City in 1929. The pope is elected for life by the College of Cardinals. Death, on April 2, 2005, ended the 26-year pontificate of Pope John Paul II. On April 19 a conclave of 115 cardinals from 52 countries elected a new pope, Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany).