Vatican City State, the collection of buildings and the things contained within them that make up the headquarters of the Catholic Church, has, for nearly a century, been its own country. Its creation was the result of a 1929 treaty designed to preserve the balance of power between the Church and the Italian government, and to keep each out of the other’s business, according to Vatican Tips. Despite literally being surrounded on all sides by the city of Rome, Vatican City State is recognized as a nation in much the same way that Mexico or Poland are today, with its own army, head of state, and post office.

As it turns out, however, Vatican City also has a pretty major crime problem. In fact, when the number of crimes committed in the city is compared to the small number of official citizens of the country (about 900), Vatican City has one of the worst crime rates in the world, according to Oyster. Most of those are comparatively minor crimes of opportunity, such as purse-snatching, but there’s been at least one pretty major felony committed within the country. That crimes are committed within the walls of Vatican City is actually problematic for the country, considering that it has no prison and only one judge. There are, however, detention cells, located within the headquarters of the Vatican Police, as the BBC explained. 

If you commit a crime in the Vatican, you'll likely face justice in Italy

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