Democratic Republic of the Congo–Holy See relations election. Democratic Republic of the Congo–Holy See relations Democratic Republic of the Congo–Holy See relations refers to the current relationship between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Holy See. The two states have seen an increase in their cooperation in recent years, and due to the large number of Roman Catholics in the DRC, President Joseph Kabila has made an effort to maintain good relations with the Vatican. The DRC maintains an embassy near Vatican City while the Holy See has an apostolic nunciature in Kinshasa. The current Congolese ambassador in the Vatican is Jean-Pierre Hamuli Mupenda (since
Foreign relations of the Holy See is sovereign, the two entities are separate and distinct. The State of the Vatican City was created by the Lateran Treaty in 1929 to "ensure the absolute and visible independence of the Holy See" and "to guarantee to it an indisputable sovereignty in international affairs" (quotations from the treaty). Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Holy See's former Secretary for Relations with States, said that the Vatican City is a "minuscule support-state that guarantees the spiritual freedom of the Pope with the minimum territory." The Holy See, not Vatican City, maintains diplomatic relations with states, and foreign embassies are accredited to the