Who guards the Vatican, a country with no army and two forces of its own

One of my favourite Vatican questions is whether it has an army. The short answer is no, but behind it is a rather curious division of labour between three forces, one Swiss, one Vatican and one Italian. For a traveller it matters more than you’d think, because which one you deal with depends on where you’re standing. Here’s how it works.

Does the Vatican have an army?

No. In September 1970 Paul VI disbanded the state’s remaining military corps, keeping only the Pontifical Swiss Guard, and a December law made it official. Before then the popes had other armed corps in their service. On top of that, Article 24 of the 1929 Lateran Treaty says Vatican City will always be neutral and inviolable territory.

What remains is the Swiss Guard, founded on 22 January 1506 under Julius II. Today it has 135 men, 9 officers, 41 NCOs and 85 halberdiers. It protects the pope, his home and his journeys, mans the state’s gates, performs honour duties and guards the cardinals when there’s no pope. For the history, the entry requirements and where to see them, go to my page on the Swiss Guard.

The Vatican’s police is the Gendarmerie

Public order, security and criminal investigation inside the state fall to the Gendarmerie Corps. It began in 1816, after the Congress of Vienna, as the Papal Carabinieri, created by Pius VII when the Papal States still stretched from Emilia-Romagna down to Lazio. It fought until Rome fell in 1870, and since 2 January 2002 it has been called the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State. Together with the fire brigade it answers to the Directorate of Security Services and Civil Protection.

According to the Governorate’s website there are five entrances to the state, guarded jointly by the Swiss Guard and the Gendarmerie. Non-tourist areas, such as the Vatican pharmacy, need a pass, issued at St Anne’s on sight of your ID.

Who polices St Peter’s Square?

This is the quirk that confuses people most. Though it is Vatican soil, the 1929 treaty leaves the square open and under Italian police authority, right up to where the basilica steps begin. According to the Fabbrica itself, Italy’s Polizia di Stato runs the basilica scanners in the right-hand curve. In high season that’s what creates the queue, as I explain when covering St Peter’s Basilica.

My practical tip is to travel light. The basilica has no left-luggage, and the less you carry, the faster you get through the scanner.

Its own courts, and three cells

The Vatican has its own justice system. It has three levels of court, first instance, appeal and cassation, plus a prosecution office.

On prisons there’s less official information. ACI Stampa, a news agency, reports three small cells in the Gendarmerie building for short stays only, with any real sentence served in Italy and paid for by the Vatican. Article 22 of the Lateran Treaty provides for Italy to punish on its territory crimes committed in the Vatican if the Holy See asks. I haven’t seen an official source describing the cells, so take that with the caution it deserves.

What the Gendarmerie does beyond patrolling

Its job goes well beyond what you see on the street. According to the Governorate, on top of public order and criminal investigation it acts as border police and tax police, handles security at papal ceremonies, audiences and meetings, and protects the pope wherever he goes. That includes pastoral visits around Italy and trips abroad, so when you see the pope in another country, part of the security around him comes from here. It’s also a member of INTERPOL, sharing information on crime.

The name has changed almost as often as the city. In 1849 the carabinieri became the Reggimento dei Veliti Pontifici and then the Papal Gendarmerie. The 1970 reform stripped its military status and turned it into the Central Security Office, and in 1991 it became the State Security Corps. To me that sequence is the clearest sign of a Vatican that stopped thinking of itself as an armed power and started thinking like a state that only needs a police force.

The fire brigade, the state’s third corps

Hardly anyone knows the Vatican has its own firefighters. There was a fire corps under the Papal States, but the current unit was set up by Pius XII in 1941, in the middle of the war. Today there are 30 of them, led by a coordinating officer, and besides fighting fires they handle prevention, check the fire equipment in the palaces and work with the Gendarmerie on civil protection. They even cover the helipad when the pope flies in.

Their station is inside the Vatican Palaces, reached from the Belvedere Courtyard, so it isn’t something you’ll see on a visit. They celebrate their patron saints, St Barbara and St Leo IV, on 4 December. The building that houses them is covered in the Apostolic Palace.

What it means for your visit

In practice you’ll cross paths with all three. The Italian police in the square and at the check. The Swiss Guard at their sentry boxes, who neither fine you nor sell anything. And the Gendarmerie, inside. Nobody in uniform will offer you tickets or tours, so if someone does, apply what I cover in Vatican scams to avoid. Why a state this size needs a police force at all comes down to its sovereignty, covered in is the Vatican a country?.