Outline of Vatican City
Vatican City – an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state, being the sovereign territory of the Holy See and ruled by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The territory of this landlocked sovereign city-state consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of approximately , and a population of just over 800. This makes Vatican City the smallest independent state in the world by both area and population.Geography of Vatican CityVatican City is an enclave in an urban area, and lacks the geographic features common to (much larger) countries:Demographics of Vatican City
Mater Ecclesiae Monastery
The monastery, named after a Catholic title for Mary as "Mother of the Church" (), is located on the Vatican Hill inside the Vatican Gardens and near the "Aquilone fountain". It was founded by Pope John Paul II in order to have a community of nuns of an enclosed religious order inside Vatican City, who were to pray for the pope in his service to the Catholic Church. This task was, at the beginning, entrusted to the nuns of the Order of St. Clare, better known as the Poor Clares. This assignment, however, was shifted every five years to another female monastic order, who would then occupy the monastery.