Lateran Treaty

Concluded between the Vatican and the Italian Kingdom in 1929, this restored the relations ruptured at the seizure of Rome in 1870. It acknowledged the Holy See's independence and sovereign jurisdiction over the Vatican City, and proprietary rights over several churches and buildings elsewhere. Italy affirmed that Catholicism was the sole religion of the state, while the papacy formally recognized the Italian Kingdom and Rome as its capital. Italy agreed to compensate the Apostolic See for the loss of the Papal States. The attached concordat guaranteed to the Church the free exercise of its spiritual powers, but bishops were to take an oath of loyalty to the state. Mussolini thereby enhanced his reputation by neutralizing the papacy.