Law of Guarantees
Encyclopedia
After the occupation of the Papal States
in 1870, Italy
's Law of Guarantees accorded the Pope
certain honors and privileges similar to those enjoyed by the King of Italy
, including the right to send and receive ambassador
s who would have full diplomatic immunity
, just as if he still had temporal power as ruler of a state. The papacy would thus have been subject to a law that the Italian parliament could modify or abrogate at any time.
Pope Pius IX
and his successors refused to recognize the right of the Italian king to reign over what had formerly been the Papal States, or the right of the Italian government to decide his prerogatives and make laws for him. They instead considered themselves prisoners of the Vatican, refusing to set foot outside the walls of the Vatican and thereby put themselves under the protection of the Italian forces of law and order, until the Lateran Treaty of 1929 settled the Roman Question
by establishing Vatican City
as an independent state and paying compensation to the Holy See
for the loss of the Papal States.
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
in 1870, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's Law of Guarantees accorded the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
certain honors and privileges similar to those enjoyed by the King of Italy
King of Italy
King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
, including the right to send and receive ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
s who would have full diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
, just as if he still had temporal power as ruler of a state. The papacy would thus have been subject to a law that the Italian parliament could modify or abrogate at any time.
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
and his successors refused to recognize the right of the Italian king to reign over what had formerly been the Papal States, or the right of the Italian government to decide his prerogatives and make laws for him. They instead considered themselves prisoners of the Vatican, refusing to set foot outside the walls of the Vatican and thereby put themselves under the protection of the Italian forces of law and order, until the Lateran Treaty of 1929 settled the Roman Question
Roman Question
thumb|300px|The breach of [[Porta Pia]], on the right, in a contemporaneous photograph.The Roman Question was a political dispute between the Italian Government and the Papacy from 1861 to 1929....
by establishing Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
as an independent state and paying compensation to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
for the loss of the Papal States.