TERMS OF USE

1. WEBSITE OWNER.

The domain www.vatican.va (hereinafter referred to as the "Portal") and its Contents or even part of them - by way of example but not limited to text, images, video, audio etc. - (hereinafter also only "Content") are owned and in the ownership of the DPC, located at Via della Conciliazione 5, 00120, Vatican City, email: spc@spc.va.

The DPC manages the Contents of the Portal itself and any services/products made available through it.

2. SUBJECT

The Portal was created to provide a space managed by the DPC where the User (hereinafter "User") can learn primarily about the activities of the Holy Father and the texts of official documents.

There are numerous links on the Portal to other entities/institutions related to the Holy Father, also different from the DPC, such as the Vatican City State, the Vatican Museums etc.

These Terms of Use are intended to inform those who visit the Portal and have visibility of the Content therein usable about the ownership of it by the DPC, or by third parties from whom the DPC has obtained authorization for its use, as well as the rules of conduct for navigation on the Portal and the use of its Content as adopted by the DPC.

3. CONTENT AND UPDATE

Content in the Portal is that uploaded on the date of the last update.

The Portal may contain links (e.g., social media links, links to third party sites etc.) in relation to which DPC has no responsibility.

4. ACCESS AND USE.

Access to and viewing of the Portal Contents are available free of charge to the User. They are intended for personal and non-profit use only.

The reproduction and collection of Contents for reasons other than personal use is expressly prohibited in the absence of prior authorization issued in writing by the DPC.

The User is not authorized to make any changes or to disseminate and / or transfer the Content, even if partially, of this Portal as further specified below.

Access and use of the Portal and related Content by the User must in any case comply with the principles of good faith and fairness, in compliance with morality and public order.

It is expressly forbidden for the User to use the Contents and any products or services available on the Portal for commercial purposes and, in any case, to carry out activities contrary to the law, morality or public order.

5. USER'S RESPONSIBILITIES.

The User, its legal representatives or guardians in the case of minors or interdicts, are solely responsible for the proper navigation on the Portal and the use of its Content in line with these Terms of Use.

The User agrees to make appropriate use of the Content and any products and services on the Portal and, in any case, not to use them to (i) engage in activities that are unlawful, illegal, or contrary to good faith and public order; (ii) disseminate content or propaganda of a defamatory, racist, sexist, xenophobic, violent, pornographic, or clearly unlawful or illegal nature, advocacy of terrorism, or harmful to human rights (iii) cause damage to the physical and logical systems of the DPC, its suppliers or third parties, including by introducing or spreading computer viruses or other physical or logical systems that are capable of causing the aforementioned damage and/or prevent their normal use and operation in any way; (iv) attempt to access and, where appropriate, use the e-mail accounts of other users and modify or manipulate their messages.

The User also agrees not to use the Portal for fraudulent purposes and, more generally, not to engage in conduct that could damage the image of the Holy See as well as the interests and rights held by the DPC or any third parties. The DPC will pursue and/or discourage any conduct engaged in by the User that damages both the Holy See and any third parties.

No User shall place on his or her own site, blog, forum, or any social network, a link, hyperlink, framing, or similar link that redirects to URLs of Portal Content or Portal or DPC profiles without written permission from the DPC.

Should the DPC detect any link with these characteristics it will be fully authorized to take action in order to remove such link and, if appropriate, to inform the relevant authorities of the offence.

Furthermore, without prejudice to the supervision of compliance with the provisions of these Terms of Use, if a User detects or has knowledge of any use that is improper, inappropriate, or in contravention of any of the rules contained in the Terms of Use, he/she may contact the DPC through the channels indicated in Section 8.

6. EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OF THE DPC

The DPC disclaims any responsibility for any content not elaborated by the DPC or published with its name or its brands which could cause confusion with the origin of such contents or of any brands making them improperly refer to the Portal Contents.

Furthermore, it declines any responsibility for the information contained in third party websites or blogs that can be connected, whether authorized or not, through links or other methods to the Portal.

Similarly, the DPC is not responsible for any security errors that may occur due to the use of computers infected with computer viruses or for the consequences that may arise from the malfunction of the browser or from the use of outdated versions of the same. Therefore, the DPC is not responsible, in any case, for damages of any kind that may be caused to the User, despite the Dicastery having adopted all the necessary measures to avoid them. The DPC will not be responsible for any damage caused to the User caused by failures or disconnections in the communication networks that cause the suspension, cancellation or interruption of the Portal service during the use of the same by the User.

The DPC does not assume responsibility for damages of any kind caused by improper use of the Portal and caused by the same User. Similarly, the Portal reserves the right to withdraw all comments and contributions that violate respect for the dignity of the person, which are discriminatory, xenophobic, racist, pornographic, which are configured as crimes against youth or childhood, the order or public safety or which, in its opinion, are not suitable for publication.

7. INTELLECTUAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

The Portal and its Contents are protected by the copyright regulations in force in the State of Vatican City and by international copyright regulations.

The Portal's Content belongs to DPC or to any third party that has authorized DPC to use it.

The User is not authorized to modify, publish, transmit, share, assign for use in any capacity, reproduce (beyond the limits specified below), reprocess, distribute, perform, give access to or commercially exploit in any way the Content or services (including software, images, icons, links, as well as their graphic design and source codes) of this Portal even in part, in the absence of express written authorization from the DPC.

Reproduction of the Content through the tools provided by the Portal is permitted. More specifically, it is possible to share the Content, where this has been made possible by the DPC, through the main social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) by clicking in the same icons present near the reproducible content. In any case, no commercial exploitation of this type of reproduction of the Content is permitted.

Likewise, trademarks or distinctive signs are the exclusive property of DPC or, if applicable, of third parties, unless otherwise specified.

The User must at all times respect all intellectual and industrial property rights to the Portal and the Content visible thereon owned by DPC or any third parties.

The assignment of intellectual property rights relating to the Portal or its Content by the User is expressly prohibited.

Where possible, the DPC reserves the right to prevent access to those who contravene or violate these prohibitions, without prejudice to other legal actions that may be exercised in relation to the infraction committed.

8. NOTIFICATION OF INFRINGEMENT OF RIGHTS

Anyone who detects that his or her content has been published on the Portal without his or her consent, generating a violation of intellectual or industrial property rights, to privacy or image or any other right, may notify the DPC by:

- registered letter with return receipt, sent to the Dicastery for Communication, Via della Conciliazione 5, (00120), Vatican City;

- e-mail: by means of a message sent to the following email address policies@spc.va with the subject line "Violation of Rights."

In either case, the request must be accompanied by the following information under penalty of not being considered:

- identification of the content (clearly enough so that the DPC can locate it within the Portal) or the personal data or protected rights that have been violated;

- sufficiently detailed identification of the reporter so that the DPC can contact him/her (e-mail address and telephone number);

- copy of an identity document allowing identification of the reporter;

- signed statement in which the reporter affirms that the above information is true and that he/she is the rightful owner (or the person authorized to act on his/her behalf) of the rights allegedly violated.

9. USE OF LINKS and SOCIAL MEDIA.

Hyperlinks on the Portal may direct the User to web pages on websites other than this one, which are deemed of possible interest to the User. The User acknowledges and recognizes that the DPC has no control over the content of such sites and as a mere third party has no responsibility for the content and/or material, including advertising, disclosed on such external sites or resources, as well as their privacy policies of use.

The Portal uses functions of some so-called Social Buttons ("buttons") of social media such as Twitter, Facebook and others. Social media allow users of the relevant platforms to create links to their social media profiles in order to save or share them with their contacts in the mentioned media.

Without the User's intervention, the Portal does not send any data to the respective social networks, with the exception of viewing videos on the Portal that imply by default access to YouTube for example.

Without prejudice to these exceptions, in order to use the Social Buttons, the User must activate them by clicking on them. They remain active until they are deactivated again. After activation, a direct connection is established with the server of the respective social network. The content of the button is then transmitted directly from the social network to the User's browser, from which it is inserted into the site. After a button is activated, the social network may retrieve data, regardless of whether the User interacts with the button. If the User is logged in to a social network, the latter is able to associate the visit to the site with the relevant User account. If the User is subscribed to a social network, in order not to allow the social network to associate the visit data with the Portal, the User must log out of the respective social network before activating the buttons.

The DPC cannot influence in any way the extent of the data that social networks collect through their buttons. The social networks' data use guidelines provide information about the purpose and extent of the data they collect, how that data is processed and used, the rights the User can exercise, and the settings the User can opt in to protect their privacy. For more information regarding the scope and purpose of the collection and processing of User data, the User is invited to consult the data protection policies of the aforementioned social media, which are responsible for the protection of User data with respect to their services and/or content.

As mentioned above, in addition, the Portal allows the sharing of certain Content via social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) always through the aforementioned Social Buttons placed in the vicinity of the content to be shared. Also in this case, the same indications mentioned above are understood to be applicable.

10. TERMS OF USE OF THE PORTAL THROUGH MOBILE DEVICES

All these provisions are applicable to the accesses that the User makes on the Portal also through a mobile device, whatever its nature and technology.

In this regard, it should be noted that, even in the case of connection to the so-called fixed network, the DPC does not charge any amount for access through the device to the Portal but that the User's mobile or fixed operator will apply the rate that the User has stipulated for sending and receiving data. The cost of the connection is the sole responsibility of the User: with this, the DPC advises the User to check with his operator what charges and fees apply to the connection to the fixed and/or mobile network, as well as whether the same are subject to any type of restriction.

The DPC is not responsible for any restrictions that the mobile operator may have imposed and that may prevent the normal operation of the network, nor for any disservices, delays, impediments to the User's enjoyment of the Portal Content. connected or not to the network, as also specified in the previous point.

Furthermore the DPC will not be responsible if the use of these devices does not allow consultation of all or part of the Portal and its contents.

11. APPLICABLE LAW AND COMPETENT JURISDICTION

The legislation in force in the State of Vatican City applies to these Terms of Use.

Any dispute arising out of these Terms of Use of the Portal and its Content shall be the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the State of Vatican City.

12. MODIFICATIONS AND UPDATE

The DPC reserves the right to modify and update, without notice, the Content, products and services, configuration and presentation of the Portal, as well as to remove and restrict or prevent temporary or permanent access to it.

Accordingly, under no circumstances is the DPC responsible for the consequences of any interruptions, as it cannot guarantee the reliability, availability or continuity of the Portal.

The DPC may replace or modify the provision of services or products at any time, including for technical reasons.

The DPC reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use to update their content; it is the User's responsibility to periodically check for changes.

Browsing the Portal implies acceptance of these Terms of Use.