Sede vacante is an expression, used in the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church. It is Latin for "the seat being vacant" (the ablative absolute to sedes vacans "vacant seat"), the seat in question being the cathedra of the particular church.

After the death or resignation of a pope the Holy See becomes sede vacante. In this case the particular church is the Diocese of Rome and the "vacant seat" is the cathedra of Saint John Lateran, the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome. During this period, the Holy See is administered by a regency of the College of Cardinals.

According to Universi Dominici Gregis, the government of the Holy See sede vacante (and therefore of the Catholic Church) falls to the College of Cardinals, but in a very limited capacity. At the same time, all of the heads of the Roman Curia resign their offices. The exceptions are the Cardinal Camerlengo, who is charged with managing the property of the Holy See, and the Major Penitentiary, who continues to exercise his normal role. If either has to do something which normally requires the assent of the Pope, he has to submit it to the College of Cardinals. Papal legates continue to exercise their diplomatic roles overseas, and the Vicar General of Rome continues to exercise his pastoral role over the diocese of Rome during this period. The postal administration of the Vatican City State prepares and issues special postage stamps for use during this particular period, known as "sede vacante stamps".

Sede (also known as Sede Giyorgis) is a town in west-central Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 10°57′N 37°53′E / 10.95°N 37.883°E / 10.95; 37.883 and an elevation of 2555 meters above sea level. It is one of three towns in Hulet Ej Enese woreda.

The town was organized in the 1930s. Sede features one high school (in 2007), one elementary school (established in 1959) and one clinic (tena tabia).

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 2,309, of whom 1,296 are men and 15,864 are women. The 1994 national census reported a total population for Sede of 1,345 in 408 households, of whom 533 were men and 812 were women. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 94.6% reporting that as their religion, while 5.4% were Muslim.