Lateran Treaty and creation of the Vatican State complete 90 years
The Vatican City State celebrates this Monday, February 11, the 90th anniversary of the Lateran Treaty, by which the Kingdom of Italy recognized the independence, sovereignty and border limits of the Vatican.
On a day like today, in 1929, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, in the name of Pope Pius XI, and the then president of the Council of Ministers, and later dictator, Benito Mussolini, in the name of King Vittorio Emanuele III, signed in the Pontifical Basilica of Saint John Lateran the treaties that resolved the Roman Question.
This name was given to the conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Catholic Church since 1870, when troops from the newly created Kingdom of Italy conquered the city of Rome and the Papal States.
Since then, the Pontiffs have considered themselves prisoners in the Vatican, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Kingdom of Italy and were confined within the Vatican walls.
With the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, 59 years of dispute were ended by mutual recognition between Italy and the Holy See and the Vatican City State was created.
After the Second World War, the fall of Mussolini's fascist regime and the proclamation of the Italian Republic, the Lateran Treaty was incorporated into the 1948 Constitution and was therefore protected.
In this way, the Pontiff's sovereignty over an independent territory of 44 hectares was recognized, which essentially corresponds to the Basilica and St. Peter's Square, the Vatican Museums and Gardens and all the dependencies included within the Vatican walls.
In addition, a series of extraterritorial sites of Vatican sovereignty were also recognized, including the Papal Basilicas of Saint John Lateran, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul Extramural and the Pontifical Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
By ACI Press
FOLLOW ITALIANISM
