Vatican's 75th anniversary.Vatican City Vatican City (văt`ĭkən), independent state (2005 est. pop. 900), 108.7 acres (44 hectares), within the city of Rome, Italy, and the residence of the pope, who is its absolute ruler. -- On Feb. 11, 2004, Vatican City celebrated its 75th anniversary as a sovereign state SOVEREIGN STATE. One which governs itself independently of any foreign power. . After many centuries of temporal power exercised by the popes, the Papal States were annexed by the Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of Italy can mean:
The problem of compensation for the Holy See was not resolved until 1929. On Feb. 11 of that year, the Lateran Pacts were signed by Cardinal Pietro Gasparini, Vatican Secretary of State, on behalf of Pope Plus XI, and Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister, of the King of Italy King of Italy (rex Italiae in Latin and re d'Italia in Italian) is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire. . The pacts established Vatican City as an independent state and promised indemnity for the loss of the Papal States. With regard to church-state relations, the concordat concordat (kənkôr`dăt), formal agreement, specifically between the pope, in his spiritual capacity, and the temporal authority of a state. included in the pacts made Catholicism the official religion of Italy. This is no longer the case; when the concordat was revised in 1984, this clause was dropped. The pacts inaugurated the beginning of the Vatican Museums as we know them today, opening them up more extensively to the public. The Holy See also gained recognition as an international entity. Italy guarantees water and electricity and other services. |
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