Vatican Gendarmerie
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Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano |
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1816 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Vatican City State |
| Size | 0,44 km² |
| Population | 836 (2012) |
| Governing body | Governatorate of the Vatican City State |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | via del Pellegrino, Vatican City |
| Sworn members | 130 (in 2007) |
| Agency executive | Domenico Giani, Inspector General |
| Website | |
| Gendarme Corps | |
The Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State (Italian: Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the gendarmerie, or police and security force, of Vatican City and the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See.
The 130-member corps is led by an Inspector General, currently Domenico Giani, who replaced the long-serving Camillo Cibin in June 2006.
In 1816, after the dissolution of the Napoleonic empire, Pope Pius VII founded the Papal Carabinieri Corps for the service of the Papal States. In 1849, under Pope Pius IX, it was renamed, first as the Papal Velites Regiment, and then as the Papal Gendarmerie Corps. It was charged with ensuring public security, and passed from dependence on the Ministry of the Army to dependence on the Cardinal Secretary of State. It took an active part in the battles that finally led to the complete conquest of the Papal States by the victorious Kingdom of Italy. After the capture of Rome in 1870, a small group of members of the Corps continued to serve in the papal residence and the gardens. In 1929, the force was expanded to deal with its duties in the newly founded Vatican City State and in the buildings and other areas over which the Holy See had extraterritorial rights. When in 1970 Pope Paul VI abolished all the military bodies at his service except the Swiss Guards, the Gendarmerie was transformed into a Central Security Office, with the duties of protecting the Pope, defending Vatican City, and providing police and security services within its territory. Its name was changed in 1991 to Security Corps of Vatican City State and in 2002 to Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State.
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