Religion in Italy North-West, 62%, 16% and 13%, respectively. The headquarters of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church, the State of Vatican City (see also Holy See), is an enclave within the city of Rome and, thus, the Italian territory. The Church's world leader, the Pope, is the Bishop of Rome, hence the special relationship between Italians and the Church—and the latter's entanglement with Italian politics (see Lateran Treaty and the section below on religion and politics). The current Pope is Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who, before his election in 2013, is from Argentina and was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998
Catholic Church in Argentina July 2010, Argentina was one of the first countries in the Latin America that legalized same-sex marriage, putting Argentina at odd's ends with the Catholic Church. Protesters, largely consisting of members of the Argentine Catholic Church and Evangelical and Protestant groups were sparked against the legislation, while demonstrating in front of the Congress. Argentina’s Synod of Bishops called upon Catholics to oppose politicians who supported the bill. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina, has said that if a proposed bill giving same-sex couples the opportunity to marry and adopt children should be approved,