Vatican Assassins

Chapter 19 259
The life and activities of the Order are regulated by the Constitutional
Charter approved by the Holy See, and the Code. The Code de Rohan,
promulgated by the Grand Master Fra Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc in the
eighteenth century, retains its validity as a supplementary source of law,
provided its provisions are applicable and not contrary to the other two sources
of law. Juridical questions and problems of interest and importance for the
Order are dealt with by the Consultative Juridical Council, appointed by the
Grand Master with the consent of the Sovereign Council.
To deal with cases outside the competence of Canon Law and
ecclesiastical Courts, the Order has its own Court of Law of First Instance and
Courts of Appeal with the Presidents, Judges, Promoters of Justice, and
Auxiliaries appointed by the Grand Master with the deliberative vote of the
Sovereign Council. Appeals against the sentences of the Order’s Courts may be
lodged with the Court of Cassation of the Vatican State, which, in such cases,
acting by proxy on behalf of the Order, may exercise the functions of Supreme
Court.
A Board of Auditors, elected by the General Chapter, controls the income
and the expenditures of the Order.
Under the provisions of International Law, the Order maintains
diplomatic relations, through accredited representatives, with the Holy See, on
which, in its double nature, it depends as a religious Order, but of which, as a
sovereign Order of Knighthood, it is independent, and through the exchange of
such diplomatic representatives, with six European countries: Austria, Italy,
Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Spain; with nineteen South American States:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela; in Asia with the Philippines,
Thailand, Lebanon; in Africa with Benin, Burkina, Faso Cameroun, Central
Africa Republic, Comores, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, the Ivory Coast,
Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco; Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Togo,
Tchad and Zaire. Moreover, it maintains Delegations in Belgium, France,
Germany, Monaco and Switzerland, as well as at the Council of Europe, the
UNESCO, the FAO and several International Organizations in Geneva.
[Emphasis added]
His Most Eminent Highness the Prince and Grand Master of the Order
rules with the assistance of the Sovereign Council a world-wide and
The Jesuits – 1801 - 1814