The 1929 Lateran Accords

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the historic events that led to the 1929 signing of the Lateran Accords. The historic documents were signed in the Lateran Palace in Rome by Pietro Gasparri, Cardinal Secretary of State to Pope Pius XI, and Benito Mussolini, Il Duce of the Italian State. In the signing of these documents both men solved a problem that had plagued Italy for almost sixty years, commonly known as the "Roman Question." The writer of this paper details how the accords resolved the issue of the Catholic church's refusal to recognize the state of Italy. A complex set of documents, the accords were arranged into three separate agreements which are detailed in this paper. This paper explores the significance of the Roman question and it's solution which resulted in the birth of Vatican City.

From the Paper:

"'Since the early middle ages, the church had been responsible for the education of the youth in Italy, as was the case in much of Europe. Although the French Revolution and reforms across the continent had taken much of that power away from the bishops and monks, in Italy the Church was still held ultimately responsible. The Duce felt that he needed to change that relationship. In the spring of 1931, in clear violation of the concordat, Mussolini's "black shirts" began to harass and beat up members of the Italian Catholic Action, a youth group devoted to the teachings of the church. By the early summer, the pope felt strongly enough to issue an encyclical on the subject. In it, he condemned the violence."

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