Lateran treaties
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The
Lateran Treaties of
February 11,
1929 provided for the mutual recognition of the then-
Kingdom of Italy and the
Vatican City. The treaties were negotiated between
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri on behalf of the
Holy See, and
Benito Mussolini, the
Fascist leader, as
Prime Minister of Italy. There are three treaties:
- A treaty recognising the independence and sovereignty of the Holy See and creating the State of the Vatican City.
- A concordat defining the civil and religious relations between the government and the church within Italy (summarised in the motto: "free church in free State").
- A financial convention providing the Holy See with compensation for its losses in 1870.
Through the concordat, the
Pope agreed to submit candidates for
bishop and
archbishop to the Italian government, to require bishops to swear allegiance to the Italian state before taking offices, and to forbid the
clergy from taking part in
politics. Italy agreed to submit its rules on
marriage and
divorce to make them conformable to the rules of the
Roman Catholic Church, and to exempt
clergy from military
conscription. The treaties granted the Roman Catholic Church the status of the
established church in Italy. They also gave the Roman Catholic Church substantial control over the Italian
educational system.
The treaties were revised in 1985, primarily to remove the establishment of the Catholic Church in Italy.
See also
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