 The Orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See are conferred by the pope as temporal sovereign and "fons honorum" of the Holy See, similar to the orders awarded by other heads of state.The Holy See has been recognized, both in state practice and in the writing of modern legal scholars, as a subject of public international law, with rights and duties analogous to those of States.Although the Holy See, as distinct from the Vatican City State, does not fulfill the long-established criteria in international law of statehood—having a permanent population, a defined territory, a stable government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states—its possession of full legal personality in international law is shown by the fact that it maintains diplomatic relations with 180 states, that it is a "member-state" in various intergovernmental international organizations, and that it is