History of the Pope and the Vatican: Lateran Accords of 1929

Though Mussolini had centralized authority so much in himself that by 1928 he may rightfully be considered a dictator, one sector was not so docile as Mussolini would have liked: the Church. Among Mussolini's sore spots with the Church were his totalitarian claims over education. Mussolini had yet to patch up his relations with the Church, necessary patchwork if the dictator were to win the ardent support of Catholics.

So, in February 1929, Mussolini and Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Accords. They came in three parts and form one of the most curious events in the history of the Pope and the Vatican:

1. The Convention: Mussolini gave the Church a huge sum of money thus making it the largest holder of government bonds in Italy
2. The Treaty: Mussolini vested in the Papacy full territorial rights over the Vatican City. Now this small enclave of a few hundred people could have its own army, police, courts, radio station, newspaper, and prison.
3. The Concordat: This, the most important part, covered the full range of Church-State relations. It:

• Gave the Church broad privileges in education
• Outlawed divorce
• Exempted Church property from taxes
• Prohibited the distribution of Protestant Bibles in Italy
• Outlawed evangelistic meetings in private home

The Dictator and the Pope signed the Lateran Accords on February 11, which became designated a national holiday. The Accords were a barren Church victory, for later, on Mussolini's first visit to the Vatican after the signing of the Accords, he refused to kneel before the Pope.

Tip: How has such a patch of land as small as the Vatican exercised such a pivotal role in world affairs for the past two-thousand years? Find out in The Vatican Revealed, a DVD from A&E TV .