Resolved the Roman Question by establishing Vatican City as a sovereign state and normalizing relations between Italy and the Holy See.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 11 February 1929
- Ratification date
- 7 June 1929 by Italian Parliament
- Named after
- Lateran Palace, Rome
- Recognized in Italian Constitution
- 1948
- Significantly revised
- 1984, ending Catholicism as sole state religion
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The unification of Italy in the nineteenth century had absorbed the Papal States into the new kingdom, leaving the papacy without temporal sovereignty and creating a prolonged dispute known as the Roman Question. This conflict left the Holy See and the Italian state without formal diplomatic relations for decades.
On 11 February 1929, representatives of the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI, signed the Lateran Treaty at the Lateran Palace in Rome. The treaty formally recognised Vatican City as an independent sovereign state and obligated Italy to pay financial compensation to the Church for the loss of the Papal States.
The treaty resolved the Roman Question and established Vatican City as a distinct sovereign entity under the Holy See. It was incorporated into the Italian Constitution in 1948, and while substantially revised in 1984 to remove Catholicism as the exclusive state religion, the sovereignty of Vatican City has been maintained continuously to the present day.
Political Outcome
Vatican City recognised as an independent sovereign state; Roman Question resolved; financial compensation granted to the Catholic Church; Catholicism initially established as state religion of Italy.
Holy See lacked recognised territorial sovereignty; no formal diplomatic relations between Italy and the papacy since 1870.
Vatican City established as a sovereign state; full diplomatic relations normalised between Italy and the Holy See.