NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 03, 2023

Q: The Vatican last week formally repudiated its 15th-century “Doctrine of Discovery,” which was used to legitimize the seizure of Indigenous lands during the European colonization in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceana. Vatican City is the world’s smallest sovereign state and is surrounded by the city of Rome. Where is Rome on this map of Italy?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Indigenous leaders have pressed the Roman Catholic Church to rescind the doctrine for decades, but calls to discredit those “papal bulls” grew last summer during Pope Francis’ visit to which continent?

A. Africa

B. Asia

C. North America

D. South America

C. The Pope visited Canada last year to apologize to Indigenous communities for the church’s role in the country’s residential school system, which led to the abuse and deaths of thousands of Native American children. The Vatican said last week it “repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples.”

Q: The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide. Vatican City has what type of government?

A. Absolute monarchy

B. Elective monarchy

C. Theocracy

D. All of the above

D. The Pope is elected by the Roman Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals and rules as an absolute monarch. He exercises principal legislative, executive, and judicial power over the State of Vatican City.

Q: Vatican City is only 0.17 of a square mile, roughly equal to ...

A. 121 acres

B. 49 hectacres

C. 0.44 of a square kilometer

D. All of the above

D. The world’s next smallest state, Monaco, is more than four times larger than Vatican City. Monaco’s population of 31,597 people live in an area of 2 square kilometers. That’s a bit more crowded than the approximately 1,000 residents of Vatican City, which also hosts thousands of visitors a day. This week leading to Easter Sunday draws particularly large crowds.

Q: Which of these small European states is also completely surrounded by Italian territory?

A. Andorra

B. Liechtenstein

C. Monaco

D. San Marino

D. San Marino is the third-smallest country in Europe, and it claims to be world’s oldest republic. It’s 61 square kilometers are in the northeastern section of the Italian Peninsula. Monaco is bordered by the French Riviera and Mediterranean Sea. Andorra is sandwiched between France and Spain, and Liechtenstein is between Austria and Switzerland.