Residents of Vatican City will no longer be
automatically granted citizenship of the world's smallest sovereign
state, according to a law introduced on Tuesday.
Instead,
members of the clergy, state employees and their families will from now
on have to apply for citizenship, according to the law approved by
Pope Benedict XVI.
Vatican City covers some 44 hectares -
including Saint Peter's Basilica.
It currently has 572 citizens and 221
foreign national residents.
The State of the Vatican City
was established in 1929 as a result of the so-called Lateran Pacts
between the Catholic Church and Italy.