2712) "The Lateran Pacts between the Italian State and the Holy See", Vatican City State: 90th Anniversary Celebrations (1929-2019): The Ufficio Filetelico E. Numismatico (Office of the Philatelic and Numismatic Bureau of the Vatican) has issued an embroidered postage stamp of € 8.40 (Euro) depicting the Coat of Arms of the Vatican City State: Date/Year of Stamp issue: 2019 (Reissued on 12.12.2022):
On 11.02.1929, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI, the “Lateran Pacts” between the Holy See and Italy were signed in the Hall of Honour at the Lateran Palace.
It marked the first time since the unification of Italy that normal bilateral relations were established between Italy and the Holy See.
The agreements recognised the independence and sovereignty of the Holy See, and at the same time they marked the official “founding” of Vatican City State.
The prevailing circumstances which led to the solution of the "Roman Question":
During the unification of Italy in the mid-19th Century, the Papal States resisted incorporation into the new nation, even as all the other Italian countries, except for San Marino, joined it.
The then Prime Minister of Italy Camillo Cavour's dream of proclaiming the Kingdom of Italy from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica did not come to pass.
The nascent Kingdom of Italy invaded and occupied Romagna (the Eastern portion of the Papal States) in 1860, leaving only Latium in the Pope's domains.
Latium, including Rome itself, was occupied and annexed in 1870.
For the following sixty years, relations between the Papacy and the Italian government were hostile, and the status of the Pope became known as the "Roman Question".
The Popes knew that Rome was irrevocably the capital of Italy. There was nothing they wanted less than to govern it or be burdened with a papal kingdom.
What they wished was independence, a foothold on the earth that belonged to no other sovereign.
The "Lateran Pacts":
Negotiations for the settlement of the "Roman Question" began in 1926 between the government of Italy and the Holy See and culminated in the agreements known as the "Lateran Pacts", signed - for King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and for Pope Pius XI by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on 11.02.1929 which was ratified on 07.06.1929.
The agreements included a political treaty which created the State of the Vatican City and guaranteed full and independent sovereignty to the Holy See.
The Pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations and to abstention from mediation in a controversy unless specifically requested by all parties.
In the first article of the treaty, Italy reaffirmed the principle established in the 1848 Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, that "the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Religion is the only religion of the State".
The attached financial agreement was accepted as settlement of all the claims of the Holy See against Italy arising from the loss of temporal power of the Papal States in 1870.
The sum thereby given to the Holy See was actually less than Italy declared it would pay under the terms of the Law of Guarantees of 1871, by which the Italian government guaranteed to Pope Pius IX and his successors the use of, but not sovereignty over, the Vatican and Lateran Palaces and a yearly income of Lire 3,250,000 as indemnity for the loss of sovereignty and territory.
The Holy See, on the grounds of the need for clearly manifested independence from any political power in its exercise of spiritual jurisdiction, had refused to accept the settlement offered in 1871, and the Popes thereafter until the signing of the Lateran Treaty considered themselves prisoners in the Vatican, a small, limited area inside Rome.
The treaty recognised Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See.
The "Lateran Pacts" are often presented as three treaties -
a) a 27-article treaty of conciliation,
b) a three-article financial convention, and
c) a 45-article concordat.
A political treaty recognising the full sovereignty of the Holy See in the State of Vatican City, which was thereby established, accompanied by four annexes -
- A Map of the territory of Vatican City State
- Maps of buildings with extraterritorial privilege and exemption from expropriation and taxes (owned by the Holy See but located in Italy and not forming part of Vatican City)
- Maps of buildings with exemption from expropriation and taxes (but without extraterritorial privilege)
- A financial convention agreed on as a definitive settlement of the claims of the Holy See following the loss in 1870 of its territories and property
- A concordat regulating relations between the Catholic Church and the Italian state.
Commemoration:
To commemorate the successful conclusion of the negotiations, Mussolini commissioned the "Via della Conciliazione" ("Road of the Conciliation"), which would symbolically link the Vatican City to the heart of Rome.
In 1948, the Constitution of the Italian Republic, officially recognised that relations between the State and the Catholic Church "were regulated by the Lateran Treaties".
In 1984, the concordat was significantly revised:
Among other things, both sides declared: "The principle of the Catholic religion as the sole religion of the Italian State, originally referred to by the Lateran Pacts, shall be considered to be no longer in force".
The Church's position as the sole state-supported religion of Italy was also ended, replacing the state financing with a personal income tax called the otto per mille, to which other religious groups, Christian and non-Christian, also have access.
As of 2013, there are ten other religious groups with access.
The revised concordat regulated the conditions under which civil effects are accorded by Italy to church marriages and to ecclesiastical declarations of nullity of marriages.
The Embroidered Postage Stamp:
For the 90th Anniversary of the Lateran Pacts (in 2019), and the foundation of Vatican City State, the Philatelic Office is dedicating a postage Stamp of € 8.40 for the first time ever made by the Vatican Philatelic Office on embroidered cloth presented in an exclusive folder.
The stamp made from embroidered cloth has a value of € 8.40 and features the Coat of Arms of Vatican City State.
It is presented in a Folder containing a new postage stamp and one that has been postmarked on an envelope as a first day of issue.
The special Cancellation Handstamp/Postmark is titled - "STATO DELLA CITTA DEL VATICANO. The date of cancellation is 11.02.2019".
The sets are Serially numbered. The Serial number of this First Day Cover is marked - "10681".
The Cover of the Embroidered Stamp album is titled - "STATO DELLA CITTA DEL VATCANO" ("Vatican City State" and 90th ANNIVERSARIO - 1929-2019)".
The Back Cover of the Stamp Album is titled - UFN - UFFICIO FLIATELCO E NUMISMATICO CITTA DEL VATICANO" ("Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State).
Technical Specifications:
Country of Issue: Vatican City State
Year of Stamp issue: 2019
Stamp available from: 12.12.2022
(The above postage Stamp album is from the collection of my friend Jayant Biswas. Stamp Album scanned and post researched and written by Rajeev Prasad)
7) Michelangelo's "Pieta", Vatican City: New Copper Coin Series titled "Art and Faithy": A 10 Euro Copper Coin minted by the "Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato" (IPZS) on behalf of the "Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico Governatorato della Cotta del Vaticano": Coin issue date: 05.03.2020
8) Ancient Postal Routes, Vatican City State: EUROPA 2020 Theme: Two stamps of 1.10 Euro and 1.15 Euro issued by the Ufficio filatelico e Numismatico -Governatorato, Vaticano featuring Ancient Postal Routes emanating from the Vatican City State during the 6th & 11th Centuries AD
Rajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very interesting post 👍"
Thank you, Trikha sahab.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for sharing this interesting article. Please keep it up."
Thank you so much, Khanna sahab.
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