[Mohoender]

Vatican remain somewhere on the backside of my game especially as I considered that Rome was not nuked (I just don't see why it would be targeted).

One possibility with the fall of central government in Italy, however, would be to have Vatican taking control over Rome and over the Lazio, constituting a new Papal State. The pope would remain in Vatican City with Castle San Angelo being militarized again.

At the military level, the Swiss Guard would remain the pope's close guards while the italian units remaining in the Lazio could join and form a more popular army. At last, the local carabinieri could compose the heart of a religious police.

In the meantime, new ties could be built with Malta and with the Hospitalers. These knights could be the core of a new papal navy engaged in combat with the muslim pirates of North Africa.

At last, the company of jesus can quickly be turned into some kind of special force or secret service (IMO). They are found almost everywhere, they are already organized as a military and they have been known to fight in the past. They are less numerous nowadays but they are still found in more than 100 countries.

Moreover, monasteries can take over some of the social service of the defunct civil service, feeding the population, providing shelter and medical support.

I like the idea of the french hosting the Pope in Avignon again. This can be another Pope as it was the case around the year 1000 (A second pope can be an interesting political situation).

I don't recall we ever talked about religious powers in T2K but that might be an interesting subject. IMO several religious organizations will survive everywhere and retain some means of action: as part of an extended community or isolated as seen in the books on Poland.