The Italian situation is unique. For one thing, we have the Vatican in the very heart of our capital. For another, we have it in our constitution. These combine to confer innumerable privileges on the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican Secretary of State has objected to the publication of these revealing articles, but has not disputed their accuracy. Here is the complete series of ten articles, translated by Graeme Hunter for Concordat Watch.
Although the Vatican has stopped selling indulgences it still profits from them. They prescribe as penance pilgrimmages to shrines served by the Vatican airline and tax-exempt convents. And if the faithful don't book through the Vatican travel agency, they may find themselves turned away from papal audiences for pilgrims.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious freedom and educational aims, thus obliging Italy to report back to the Council of Europe on how it intends to comply. The Italian government launched an appeal and a judgement is expected by the end of 2010. This is a selection of sources, commentary and government reactions.
Mussolini's boasted that the Lateran Treaty would “bury” the worldly power of the pope, but it has permitted just the opposite, serving as a springboard to vault the Church into international bodies.
Mussolini and the Pope bargained hard for this concordat, each vying for control of Italian society but, at the same time, each realising that he needed the support of the other. Mussolini is long since gone, but the effects of this concordat live on, as it has been revised but never revoked. Pius XI summed it up as: “God to Italy and Italy to God” This excerpt from the acclaimed scholarly work by T.H. Koon, Believe, obey, fight, looks at the negotiations.
The concordat with Mussolini was revised in 1984, when it became clear that this was the only way to retain it. The Vatican was forced to relinquish the status of official state church, and with it, government salaries for priests. However, a clever bishop found a way for the Church to make a profit out of this “concession”.
“The Lateran Treaty [...] settled the ‘Roman Question’, the conflict between the papacy and the kingdom of Italy (1861-1929). The treaty recognized the Holy See’s absolute, visible independence and sovereignty with the right of international and diplomatic relations with other states.” — Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo*
“The financial settlement was immensely greater than the one previously proposed by the Law of Guarantees, which wanted to grant an annual sum of 3,224,000 lire. With the new agreement, Italy had to compensate the Holy See for the loss of its states by paying 750 million lire in cash and 1 billion lire in 5% negotiable government bonds.” — Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo [1]
Much of this concordat between Pope Pius XI and the dictator Mussolini was retained in the post-Fascist amended version of 1984. Thus it still largely determines the role of the Catholic Church within the Italian state today.
