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LATERAN TREATY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH

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LATERAN TREATY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH
A most important S.P. 18" x 14" b/w, showing the signatories to the Lateran Treaty, BENITO MUSSOLINI and PIETRO CARDINAL GASPARRI as they signed the historic treaty in the Lateran Palace in Rome on June 7, 1929 creating the sovereign state of Vatican City and finally settling the "Roman Question". The photo is also signed by Mgr. GIUSEPPE PIZZARDO acting as Secretary of State, FRANCISCO PACELLI as legal representative for the Vatican, Mgr. BORGONCINI-DUCA, Secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, Italian Minister of Justice ALFREDO ROCCO and Italian Under-Secretary of State FRANCESCO GIUNTA, all of whom have signed beneath their image. The photograph is sharp and clear, as are all signatures, with those of Giunta and Rocco just a tad light, all set into a period frame. In 1871, the unity of Italy was perfected by restricting the papal sovereignty to a few buildings and awarding to Pius IX and his successors an annual indemnity for the lost Papal States. The Roman Catholic Church never recognized this arrangement and never accepted the indemnity, and the subsequent popes considered themselves prisoners in the Vatican. The Lateran Treaty states that Roman Catholicism is to be the only state religion of Italy and that Italy recognizes the new state called Vatican City as fully sovereign and independent. Italy also guarantees public services and protection. The treaty also ordered that religion is to be taught in primary and secondary schools, and the Holy See guarantees that Roman Catholic organizations will abstain from politics. The Italian government is to consider the person of the pope sacred and inviolable, and the Holy See will remain apart from international congresses for peace, unless a unanimous appeal is made to its mission. The Lateran Treaty remained in effect after the monarchy was abolished at the end of World War II. However, a concordat put into effect in 1985 modified the treaty, most importantly stating that Roman Catholicism is no longer the state religion of Italy. The sovereignty of Vatican City is, of course, still recognized