Vatican.si
Understand Rome: how the Church actually works
Follow Vatican news with real context, look up any cardinal in a searchable database, and finally grasp how the Curia, synods, and conclaves operate. The institutional Church demystified - for journalists, seminarians, converts, and every Catholic who wants to understand Rome, not just react to it.
No card required · $9/mo Plus · $99/mo Premium
What you get
Everything Vatican.si gives you
Curia & Governance Explainer
Dicasteries, congregations, and councils mapped and explained - how the Church is actually run day to day.
Searchable Cardinal Database
Profiles of the College of Cardinals: roles, ranks, elector status, and the stories behind each red hat.
Vatican News in Context
A contextualized feed from the Holy See - what happened, why it matters, and what the media got wrong.
Conclave & Synod Guides
How popes are elected, what sede vacante means, and what synods can and cannot decide.
Hierarchy Decoder
Pope, patriarch, nuncio, metropolitan, monsignor - every title and its actual authority explained.
Eastern Catholic Churches
The 23 Eastern Churches in communion with Rome: their liturgies, patriarchs, and governance.
Go deeper
Curia, Conclaves, and the Eastern Churches
Core structures of Vatican governance, drawn from canon law and the 2022 Curia reform.
The Roman Curia's Dicasteries
- Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith — Safeguards Catholic teaching and handles doctrinal questions and certain disciplinary cases.
- Dicastery for Bishops — Oversees the selection and oversight of diocesan bishops in the Latin Church.
- Dicastery for Evangelization — Chaired by the Pope himself since 2022; leads the Church's missionary work.
- Dicastery for the Eastern Churches — Coordinates Rome's relationship with the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches.
- Secretariat of State — The Pope's chief administrative office, handling diplomacy and internal governance.
How a Conclave Works
- Sede Vacante — The period between a pope's death or resignation and the election of his successor.
- Cardinal Electors — Cardinals under age 80 who vote; capped at 120 electors by tradition.
- Universi Dominici Gregis — John Paul II's 1996 constitution governing conclave procedure, still in force today.
- Two-Thirds Majority — The supermajority of votes needed in the Sistine Chapel to elect a pope.
- Habemus Papam — White smoke and the announcement from St. Peter's balcony confirm a new pope.
Synods and Councils
- Synod of Bishops — A consultative body advising the Pope; convened as ordinary, extraordinary, or special assemblies.
- Synod on Synodality — The 2021-2024 global consultation on how the Church listens and makes decisions.
- Ecumenical Council — A gathering of all the world's bishops with the Pope to define doctrine, like Vatican II.
- Synodal Document Authority — Synod outcomes advise the Pope; only his own teaching document carries magisterial weight.
The Eastern Catholic Churches
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church — The largest Eastern Catholic Church, following the Byzantine rite, led by a Major Archbishop.
- Maronite Church — A Syriac-tradition Church based in Lebanon, always in communion with Rome, led by a Patriarch.
- Melkite Greek Catholic Church — A Byzantine-rite Church rooted in the Middle East, led by the Patriarch of Antioch.
- Syro-Malabar Church — India's largest Eastern Catholic Church, tracing its roots to the Apostle Thomas.
- Sui Iuris Status — Each Eastern Church governs its own liturgy and canon law while in full communion with Rome.
Pricing
Simple plans that grow with you
Plus
$9/mo
- ✓Unlimited Vatican Q&A
- ✓Full cardinal database access
- ✓Contextualized daily Vatican news digest
Premium
$99/mo
- ✓Journalist-grade research briefings on Vatican figures
- ✓Curial history and reform deep-dives
- ✓Live explainer coverage during conclaves and synods
- ✓Canon law student lookup tools for dicastery competencies