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Popes
in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula
for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century,
when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united
Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further
circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between
a series of 'prisoner' popes and Italy were resolved in 1929
by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent
state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special
status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Vatican
City and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions,
including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian
state religion. Present concerns of the Vatican City include
religious freedom, threats against minority Christian communities
in Africa and the Middle East, the plight of refugees and
migrants, sexual misconduct by clergy, international development,
interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application
of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalisation.
Location: Southern Europe, an enclave of Rome.
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