The organizations at the Vatican are chiefly learned societies devoted to theology, science, archaeology, liturgy, and martyrdom. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences promotes study in mathematics and the physical and natural sciences. The Pontifical Council for Culture, founded in 1982, focuses on the study of unbelief and religious indifference, particularly concerning the cause and effect of non-religious or anti-religious attitudes in various cultures.

By virtue of their position of world importance, many popes are persons of fame. Among those who greatly increased the secular power of the papacy were St. Gregory I (the Great, 540?–604), pope from 590 to 604, who also was influential in matters of doctrine, liturgy, and missionary work; St. Gregory VII (Hildebrand, 1020?–1085), pope from 1073 to 1085, who engaged in conflict with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, forcing him to do public penance at the village of Canossa, and later was driven from Rome by him; and Alexander VI (Rodrigo Lanzol y Borja, b. Spain, 1431?–1503), pope from 1492 to 1503, who also divided colonial territories in the New World between Spain and Portugal.

The most significant 19th-century pope was Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, 1792–1878), pope from 1846 to 1878, who lost the Papal States to the kingdom of Italy and convened the First Vatican Council (1869–70), which established the doctrine of papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The first popes who reigned since the establishment of the Vatican City State in 1929 were Pius XI (Achille Damiano Ratti, 1857–1939), from 1922 to 1939, and Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli, 1876–1958), from 1939 to 1958. John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, 1881–1963), pope from 1958 to 1963, made history by convening the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), by altering the text of the canon of the mass for the first time since the 7th century, and by strongly defining the position of the Church on problems of labor and social progress (in his encyclical Mater et Magistra of June 1961). His greatest achievement was generally considered to be his eighth encyclical, Pacem in Terris (issued on 10 April 1963), a profound plea for peace, in which he hailed the UN as a defender of human rights.

Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini, 1897–1978), pope from 1963 to 1978, continued Pope John's effort to attain unity of the Christian world. On 4 October 1965, he addressed the UN General Assembly, appealing for world peace and international cooperation. He presided over the concluding sessions of the Second Vatican Council and traveled to many places, including the Holy Land.

Albino Luciani (1912–78), patriarch of Venice, was elected pope on 26 August 1978 and took the name John Paul I. He died on 28 September after a reign of only 34 days. His successor, John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla, b.1920), was elevated to the papacy on 16 October 1978. This former archbishop of Cracow was not only the first Polish pope but also the first non-Italian pope since the Renaissance. Despite suffering severe wounds in a 1981 assassination attempt, John Paul II has continued to travel widely. To the dismay of Jewish and other leaders, John Paul II granted Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (b.1918) an audience in June 1987, despite accusations that Waldheim had taken part in war crimes during World War II when he was an officer in the German army.

The state maintains its own telegraph and postal facilities and has a 2,000-line automatic telephone exchange tied into the Italian system. Radio Vatican, founded in 1931, comprises two facilities, one in Vatican City proper and the other outside Rome at Santa Maria di Galeria. There are 3 AM and 4 FM stations; in addition, shortwave broadcasts can reach the entire world. Programs in 34 languages are broadcast regularly. There is also one television station. The Vatican Television Center, founded in 1983, produces and distributes religious programs.

Vatican City is an important center for publishing. A semiofficial newspaper of wide fame, L'Osservatore Romano, founded in 1861, is published daily, with an estimated 2002 circulation of 70,000 copies. Since 1934, the Vatican has also published L'Osservatore della Domenica, an illustrated weekly. The Acta Apostolicae Sedis (Record of the Apostolic See) appears regularly on a monthly basis and occasionally at other times; it publishes papal encyclicals and other official papers. An annual, the Annuario Pontificio, is issued as a record of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The International Religious Press Service (Agenzia Internazionale Fides—AIF), founded in 1927, distributes news of missionary activity and publishes Information (weekly, in various languages, including English), Documentation (irregular), and Photographic Service (weekly).

In the mid-1990s, nearly 50 periodicals were published, with a total circulation of almost 60,000. The book publishers for the Vatican are the Vatican Editions (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), the Vatican Apostolic Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), and the Vatican Polyglot Press (Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana).

The Vatican is a major center for higher Roman Catholic education, especially of the clergy being trained for important positions. Adult literacy is 100%. About 65 papal educational institutions are scattered throughout Rome; some of the more important (all prefixed by the word "Pontifical") are the Gregorian University, the Biblical Institute, the Institute of Oriental Studies, the Lateran Athenaeum, the Institute of Christian Archaeology, and the Institute of Sacred Music. There were a total of 14,403 students in 1996 with 1,872 teaching staff in all higher-level institutions.

The Apostolic Library of the Vatican is one of the most famous in the world. Founded in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V, the collection includes more than 1.1 million books, 72,000 manuscripts, 8,300 incunabula, 80,000 archival files, and 100,000 engravings. The Vatican Secret Archives, so called because originally they were strictly private records of the Vatican affairs, were opened to students in 1880. There are, in addition, several university and college libraries, many of which hold impressive historical collections. Literary scholars come from all over the world to study the collection of manuscripts. In 1994, librarians began entering the entire card catalogue of printed books into a computerized file accessible via the Internet.

Besides over a dozen museums, some of which figure among the greatest in the world, Vatican City includes as part of its decoration frescoes painted by Raphael (in the Stanze), Michelangelo (in the Sistine and Pauline Chapels), and other great Renaissance artists. In April 1994, after more than 14 years of careful cleaning, Michelangelo's frescoes became fully visible again. Among the museums in the Vatican are the Pius Clementine, the Chiaramonti, and New Wing (exhibiting antique sculpture); the Gregorian Etruscan and the Gregorian Egyptian museums; the Pinacoteca (paintings); the Collection of Modern Religious Art; the frescoed chapels, rooms, and galleries; and the Sacred and the Profane museums, which are administered by the Vatican Library.

State income is derived from fees paid by the public for visiting the art galleries and from the sale of Vatican City postage stamps, tourist mementos, and publications. The Vatican also receives income in the form of voluntary contributions (Peter's pence) from all over the world and from interest on investments. The Prefecture for Economic Affairs coordinates Vatican finances. The US Central Intelligence Agency estimates that average annual government revenues in the mid-1990s totaled approximately $175.5 million and expenditures $175 million.

Celibacy is required of all Roman Catholic clergy, except permanent deacons. The Church upholds the concept of family planning through such traditional methods as rhythm and abstinence but resolutely opposes such "artificial methods" as contraceptive pills and devices, as well as abortion and sterilization. Five important papal encyclicals— Rerum Novarum (1870), Quadragesimo Anno (1931), Mater et Magistra (1961), Pacem in Terris (1963), and Laborem Exercens (1981)—have enunciated the Church position on matters of workers' rights and social and international justice.