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| His Apostolic Highness the Most Holy Prince-Bishop Radislav I, Roman-Ruthenian Pope, signing the Communiqué on the Accession to the Vienna Convention on behalf of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church |
The Pontifical Secretariat has released the following communiqué on behalf of the Pontifical Household.
Communiqué of the Holy Apostolic See of Rome-Ruthenia
On the Accession of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church and State to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961)
2. The Roman-Ruthenian Church and State therefore affirms that, in accordance with customary international law, recognition of sovereignty is declaratory and not constitutive. Therefore, the Roman-Ruthenian Church and State, as a sovereign ecclesiastical entity with apostolic and historic mandate, non-territorial in present nature and non-territorial-seeking, noting that sovereignty of the Church by long-established principal does not derive from control of territory, accepts and applies the Convention as a matter of principle, practice, and good faith, without prejudice to its inherent rights.
3. By this declaration, the Roman-Ruthenian Church and State undertakes:
a. To extend to foreign envoys accredited to the Roman-Ruthenian Church and State the privileges and immunities foreseen under the Vienna Convention, in a spirit of reciprocity and international courtesy.
b. To continue its present practice under its own sovereign ecclesiastical authority to issue credentials to its own diplomatic representatives and officials in conformity with the norms of the Convention.
c. To apply the provisions of the Convention as customary international law, thereby ensuring the protection of diplomatic agents and the proper conduct of international relations.
4. This declaration is made in continuity with the practice of other sovereign ecclesiastical entities, such as the Holy See of Rome and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which have historically applied international diplomatic law independently of territorial considerations.
5. This declaration is also made in accordance with the statements of canonical status and temporal rights pertaining to the Roman-Ruthenian Church and State and the Constitution Fides Petraque, all hereunto appended. . Sovereignty derives not from territory, but from apostolic foundation and divine mandate.
6. Thus this declaration is not a new assertion but a continuation of existing practice on the part of the Roman-Ruthenian Church and State, which has continually asserted in theory and in practice its right to carry out acts proper to a sovereign ecclesiastical state (Appendix 4).
7. The Roman-Ruthenian Church and State will transmit copies of this declaration to the United Nations and to interested states and institutions, as well as promulgate it publicly. The Roman-Ruthenian Church and State notes that in the absence of objection, such silence shall be understood as acknowledgment of the said Church’s good faith acceptance and application of the Convention.
In witness whereof, this communiqué is issued under the hand and seal of His Apostolic Highness the Most Holy Prince-Bishop Radislav I, Roman-Ruthenian Pope, Supreme Pontiff of the URRC, on this Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, 8 September A.D. 2025, at the Holy Apostolic See.
Appendix 1 - Canonical Status
Appendix 2 - Temporal Rights
Appendix 3 - Fides Petraque
Appendix 4 - Sovereign, State, and Diplomatic Immunity
