The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia (34 page)

Article 15

The property indicated in Article 13 hereof and in paragraphs (1) and
(2) of Article 14, as well as the Palaces of the Cataria, of the CancelIeria, of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide in the Piazza di
Spagna of the S. Offizio with its annexes, and those of the Convertendi (now the Congregation of the Eastern Church) in Piazza Scossacavelli, the Vicariato, and all other edifices in which the Holy See
shall subsequently desire to establish other offices and departments
although such edifices form part of the territory belonging to the
Italian State, shall enjoy the immunity granted by International Law
to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States. Similar immunity shall also apply with regard to any other churches (even
if situated outside Rome) during such time as, without such churches
being open to the public, the Supreme Pontiff shall take part in religious ceremonies celebrated therein.

Article 16

The property mentioned in the three preceding Articles, as also that
used as headquarters of the following Papal institutions-the Gregorian University, the Biblical, Oriental, and Archaeological Institutes,
the Russian Seminary, the Lombard College, the two Palaces of St. Appollinaris, and the Home of the Retreat of the Clergy dedicated to
St. John and St. Paul-shall never be subject to charges or to expropriation for reasons of public utility, save by previous agreement with
the Holy See, and shall be exempt from any contribution or tax,
whether ordinary or extraordinary and payable to the State or to any
other body.

It shall be permissible for the Holy See to deal with all buildings
above mentioned or referred to in the three preceding Articles as it
may deem fit, without obtaining the authorization or consent of the
Italian governmental, provincial, or communal authority, which
authorities may in this regard rely entirely on the high artistic traditions of the Catholic Church.

Article 17

As from January 1, 1929, salaries of whatsoever nature payable by the
Holy See, or by other central bodies of the Catholic Church and by
bodies administered directly by the Holy See whether within or
without Rome to dignitaries employed and salaried (whether permanently or not), shall be exempt from any contribution or tax whether
payable to the State or to any other body.

Article 18

The artistic and scientific treasures existing within the Vatican City
and the Lateran Palace shall remain open to scholars and visitors,
although the Holy See shall be free to regulate the admission of the
public thereto.

Article 19

Diplomats and envoys of the Holy See, as well as diplomats and
envoys of foreign Governments accredited to the Holy See, and the
dignitaries of the Church arriving from abroad and traveling to the
Vatican City, provided with passports of the States whence they come
duly furnished with the visa of the Papal representative abroad, shall be allowed free access to the Vatican City over Italian territory
without formalities.

Article 20

Goods arriving from abroad for destinations within the Vatican City,
or without its boundaries for institutions or offices of the Holy See,
shall invariably be allowed transit over Italian territory (from any part
of the Italian boundary as also from any seaport of the Kingdom) free
of payment of any customs or octroi dues.

Article 21

All Cardinals shall enjoy, in Italy, the honours due to Princes of the
Blood. Those Cardinals who may reside in Rome without the Vatican
City shall, for all purposes, be considered citizens thereof.

In the event of the office of the Holy See falling vacant, Italy shall
make special arrangements for the free transit and access of Cardinals
over Italian territory to the Vatican, and shall provide that their personal liberty is not impeded or limited.

Italy shall also take all measures, within her territory surrounding
the Vatican City, necessary to prevent the commission of any act
which may in any way disturb the meetings of the Conclave.

The same provisions shall apply to Conclave held beyond the
boundaries of the Vatican City and to Councils presided over by the
Supreme Pontiff or his Legates, and with regard to all Bishops summoned to attend them.

Article 22

At the request of the Holy See, or by its delegate who may be
appointed in single cases or permanently, Italy shall provide within
her for the punishment of offences committed within the Vatican
City, save and except when the author of the offence shall have taken
refuge in Italian territory, in which event he shall immediately be proceeded against according to the provisions of the Italian laws.

The Holy See shall hand over to the Italian State all persons who
may have taken refuge within the Vatican City, when accused of acts
committed within Italian territory which are considered to be criminal by the law of both States.

The same provisions shall apply in regard to persons accused of
offences who may have taken refuge within the buildings enjoying
immunity in accordance with the provisions of Article 15 hereof, save
and except if the persons having authority within such buildings
prefer to request members of the Italian police force to enter and
arrest such persons.

Article 23

The regulations provided by International Law shall apply for the
execution, within the Kingdom of Italy, of sentences pronounced by
the Courts of the Vatican City.

All sentences and measures emanating from ecclesiastical authorities and officially communicated to the civil authorities, in regard to
ecclesiastical or religious persons and concerning spiritual or disciplinary matters, shall without other formality have legal effect in Italy
even for all civil purposes.

Article 24

In regard to the sovereignty appertaining to it also in international
matters, the Holy See declares that it desires to take, and shall take,
no part in any temporal rivalries between other States, nor in any
international congresses called to settle such matters, save and except
in the event of such parties making a mutual appeal to the pacific mission of the Holy See, the latter reserving in any event the right of
exercising its moral and spiritual power.

The Vatican City shall, therefore, be invariably and in every event
considered as neutral and inviolable territory.

Article 25

A special Convention signed on the same date as the present Treaty
(of which it forms Annex 4), being an integral part thereof, shall provide for the settlement of the payments to be Article 26.

The Holy See considers that the agreements signed today offer an
adequate guarantee for assuring to it, together with the requisite liberty and independence, the pastoral administration of the Roman
Diocese and the Catholic Church throughout Italy and the entire
world, and it declares the Roman Question to be definitely and irrevocably settled and therefore eliminated, and recognizes the Kingdom
of Italy under the Dynasty of the House of Savoy, with Rome as the
capital of the Italian State.

Italy, on her part, recognizes the State of the Vatican City under
the sovereignty of the Supreme Pontiff.

The law dated May 13, 1871 (No. 214) and any other dispositions contrary to the present Treaty, are hereby abrogated.

Article 27

Within four months after the signature thereof, the present Treaty
shall be submitted for ratification by the Supreme Pontiff and the
King of Italy, and shall enter into force as soon as ratifications are
exchanged.

Dated in Rome this 11th day of February, 1929.

[Signed] Pietro Cardinal Gasparri

Benito Mussolini

At the conclusion of the signing, the following official communique
was released:

The Holy See considers that with the Agreements signed today it
possesses the guarantees necessary to provide due liberty and independence to the spiritual government of the dioceses of Rome and
of the Catholic Church in Italy and the whole world. It declares the
Roman question definitely and irrevocably settled, and therefore eliminated, and recognizes the Kingdom of Italy under the dynasty
of the House of Savoy, with Rome as the capital of the Italian State.
Italy, on its side, recognizes the State of the Vatican City under the
sovereignty of the Supreme Pontiff.

The Law of Guarantees and any other Law or Act contrary to
the present Treaty is abrogated.

Source: The Coins and Medals of the Vatican, by Joseph Sadow and
Thomas Sarro Jr., Copyright 1977 by Sandord J. Durst, 133 E. 58th
Street, New York, NY 10022, Library of Congress No. 76-40814,
ISBN 0-915262-06-1, pages 106-114 [online], http://lvwiu.
aloha. net/-mikeseh/.

is Holiness Pope Pius XI and the President of the German
Reich, moved by a common desire to consolidate and
enhance the friendly relations existing between the Holy See and the
German Reich, wish to regulate the relations between the Catholic
Church and the State for the whole territory of the German Reich in
a permanent manner and on a basis acceptable to both parties. They
have decided to conclude a solemn agreement, which will supplement the Concordats already concluded with certain individual
German states, and will ensure for the remaining States fundamentally uniform treatment of their respective problems.

For this purpose: His Holiness Pope Pius XI has appointed as his
Plenipotentiary His Eminence the Most Reverend Lord Cardinal
Eugenio Pacelli, his Secretary of State. The President of the German
Reich has appointed as Plenipotentiary the Vice-Chancellor of the German Reich, Herr Franz von Papen. Who, having exchanged their
respective credentials and found them to be in due and proper form,
have agreed to the following articles:

Article 1. The German Reich guarantees freedom of profession
and public practice of the Catholic religion.

It acknowledges the right of the Catholic Church, within the limit
of those laws which are applicable to all, to manage and regulate her
own affairs independently, and, within the framework of her own
competence, to publish laws and ordinances binding on her members.

Article 2. The Concordats concluded with Bavaria (1924),
Prussia (1929) and Baden (1932) remain in force, and the rights and
privileges of the Catholic Church recognized therein are secured
unchanged within the territories of the States concerned. For the
remaining States the agreements entered into in the present Concordat come into force in their entirety. These last are also binding
for those States named above insofar as they affect matters not regulated by the regional Concordats or are complementary to the settlement already made.

In the future, regional Concordats with States of the German
Reich will be concluded only with the agreement of the Reich Government.

Article 3. In order to foster good relations between the Holy See
and the German Reich, an Apostolic Nuncio will reside in the capital
of the German Reich and an Ambassador of the German Reich at the
Holy See, as heretofore.