The top crime neighborhood in the world isn't in Sao Paulo or Lagos. It's not the Bronx in New York, or even Wedding in Berlin. It's the small city ruled by Pope Benedict XVI, which apparently sees more criminal cases per capita than any other part of the world.

It is easy to figure out why the Vatican is on top of the lists of falling victim to pickpockets - only 527 persons live in the Vatican, but some 18 million people visit the Vatican last year.

When pickpockets strike victims at the Vatican, say on St. Peter's Square, once the commit the crime, the just trot over an international border into Italy, making prosecution very difficult. The Vatican's attorney general Nicola Picardi released the astounding statistic at the start of 2011:  The tiny nation's justice department in 2010 had to contend with 1,300 misdemeanor crimes committed last year. In a population of 527, that measures out to 1.5 cases per person -- twenty times the corresponding rate in Italy.

Picardi did say that most criminal cases were matters of pickpocketing or purse-snatching. The rest amounted to other petty crimes like fraud and forgery -- committed not by kleptomaniacal nuns but by a handful of black sheep among the 18 million pilgrims and tourists who visit St. Peter's Cathedral, St. Peter's Square and the Vatican Museums every year. About 90 percent of these crimes go unpunished, which is not a measure of Christian mercy but a sign of the perpetrators' favorite method of escape. They can break for the border -- a few meters away -- to Italy.

Even if it did prosecute every pickpocket, the Vatican wouldn't have room in its jails for so many sinners, since it has no prison system. Criminals sentenced to prison in the Vatican have to serve time in Italy, with costs covered by the papal state.  The papal state's news agency VIA reports that the Vatican prosecutor decided to pursue 171 cases of the 1,300 cases submitted.

Picardi releases similar alarming statistics almost every year, when he makes his annual report on the state of the Vatican's security. He'd like his country to join the Schengen Agreement, a 1985 treaty signed by EU nations to bring down border controls and allow cooperation among justice departments and police.

Picardi would even like to promote cooperation between the Vatican and some non-EU nations. So far, though, he hasn't achieved either ambition.

Pope Benedict XVI recommended another strategy in a speech to Vatican security personnel. "Let us pray," he said, "for the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary." He may have been thinking of the weeks in April 2005 when Pope John Paul II was dying. A total of 6 million pilgrims arrived for vigils in St. Peter's Square, and not a single incident of pickpocketing was reported.

Almost 90 percent of the listed incidents fall under the category of petty theft, mostly pickpocketing, but a majority of perpetrators remain unpunished as they "flee to Italy" Visitors to the Vatican should be keenly aware of pickpockets that operate in this area - as just because it had deep religious roots - pickpockets are more concerned about taking your valuables than asking for forgiveness for their sins.  Reports of pickpocket activity are even more prevalent during the church's high feast day.

Theft and Pickpocket Activity on the famous "Pickpocket Express" Bus Line 64 - Tourists Use Caution!

Visitors to the Vatican should also be aware of theft that occurs on the bus that takes you to Rome's Termini Station to the Vatican.  Locals have nicknamed bus line 64 as  "the Pickpocket Express" or "the Wallet Express" for obvious reasons - it takes you to both heaven and hell on the same route.  Some locals report that Bus Line 40 takes a similar route but is much safer.

Video Information Regarding Pickpockets in the Vatican City

To help safeguard your valuables - including your camera bag, travel bag, or travel purse, consider one of the many travel bags which feature built-in anti-pickpocket security features like those featured here.