The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia Read Online Free PDF Page B

Gasparri, in the medieval splendor of his
purple robes, signed for the Vatican with Archbishop Pacelli at his
side. The ceremony, scheduled to last for several hours, lasted only
forty-five minutes.40 The Vatican text was enclosed in a red velvet
case with damasked edges. The cover of the case bore the papal
coat of arms.

    When the news of the agreement broke, church bells rang
throughout Rome. People poured into St. Peter's for a mass of
thanksgiving. From all corners of the globe, messages of congratulations were sent to Pius XI and Mussolini. The Speaker of the House
of Commons in England proclaimed that he was delighted by "the
decent compromise Signor Mussolini has concluded with the
pope."41 Now Italy was truly united. The Church was in concordance
and, it appeared, compliance with the state. The new Rome, as envisioned by Mussolini and his condottieri ("Blackshirts"), was about to
become a reality.
    A huge crowd of well-wishers improvised a demonstration of jubilation outside the pope's windows, hoping the Holy Father would
bless them. But they were disappointed. All the windows of the Vatican remained shut and locked, while Pius XI remained in seclusion.
    In Berlin, Adolf Hitler was delighted with the news of the treaty.
He wrote an article for Volkischer Beobachter that appeared on February 22, 1929: "The fact that the Curia is now making its peace with
Fascism shows that the Vatican trusts the new political realities far
more than it did the former liberal democracy with which it could not
come to terms." Turning to the German situation, he wrote: "By
trying to preach that democracy is still in the best interests of German
Catholics, the Center Party is placing itself in sharp contradiction to
the spirit of the treaty signed today by the Holy See." Hitler concluded his rant by saying: "The fact that the Catholic Church has
come to an agreement with Fascist Italy proves beyond doubt that
the Fascist world of ideas is closer to Christianity than those of Jewish
liberalism or even atheistic Marxism, to which the so-called Catholic
Center Party sees itself so closely bound, to the detriment of Christianity today and our German people."42
    In the annals of Roman Catholicism, few documents would prove
to be of greater importance than the agreement with Mussolini that
came to be known as "the Lateran Treaty." The first section of the
treaty-labeled "the Concordat"-provided the Vatican with complete jurisdiction over all Catholic organizations in Italy. These
organizations-called "ecclesiastical corporations" in the document-were declared exempt from taxation and state audit. More over, the Vatican was at liberty to create as many organizations as it
pleased, all of which would be tax exempt in perpetuity.

    This section also declared that Catholicism was "the official religion of Italy" and outlawed propaganda in favor of Protestantism.
Catechetical classes that prepared students for the sacrament of confirmation and full membership in Holy Mother Church were to be
held in all public and private schools.
    The second section-entitled "the Lateran Pact"-established
Vatican City (Stato della Citta del Vaticano) as a sovereign state. The
new papal state consisted of the 108.7 acres on Vatican Hill that
housed St. Peter's Cathedral, the Lateran Palace, and a cluster of
other buildings. It contained thirty squares and streets, four military
barracks for the Swiss Guards, two churches (in addition to St.
Peter's), and a population of 973 residents-most of whom were celibate priests. As a separate nation, Vatican City also possessed several
"extraterritorial holdings" in Italy: three basilicas in Rome (St. Mary
Major, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul's), several office buildings, the
papal summer palace at Castel Gandolfo (thirteen miles from Rome),
and a score of estates from Milan in the north to Reggio in the south.
    In return for sovereignty, the Vatican relinquished all claims to
the