Buon Compleanno, Citta’ del Vaticano
“All I want is a small corner of the earth where I am master,” Pope Pius IX said in 1871, when the reunification of Italy had finally overwhelmed church resistance and the Papal States were no more. And a small corner is all he got–108 walled-in acres on the far side of the Tiber, the world’s smallest state. But as often happens, the loss redounded to the church’s benefit.
Today, Feb. 11, is the 80th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts signed in 1929 by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Gasparri and Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. The pacts regularized the status of the Vatican, compensated the church for the loss of its territory, and provided a starting point for successive popes to shed their isolation as “prisoners of the Vatican.”
Paul VI’s visits overseas–the first by a pontiff in the modern era–have too often been eclipsed by John Paul II’s epic record of travel, but Paul was dubbed “the Pilgrim Pope”–and transformed the papacy into a Pauline office as much as a Petrine one. George Weigel and others have spoken about this as the “post-Constantinian” era of the church, and I think that is a legacy of Vatican II as much as anything else.
Yet today’s anniversary also reminds me of the church’s necessary sense of place in the world, for good and ill. John Paul couldn’t wait to hit the road and get out of the golden cage of the apostolic palace. But leaving his lieutenants in charge while he was away didn’t necessarily work out well. And John XXIII never traveled overseas but his outlook was hardly captive to the Curia. Besides, how many religions have their own Ruritania. Or is it Shangri-La? The Magic Kingdom?
The motto of Vatican City State (which is the temporal entity distinct from the Holy See–and with a better balance sheet, thanks to its various industries) is “A small territory with a great mission.” That seems to sum it up.
There are many resources to mark the occassion. Some of the best are on the Vatican’s increasingly spanky website. Check out the “General Information” tab for some fascinating historical bits, from the origins of the Montes Vaticani to the papal flag and anthem, the license plates, and the population. And the webcams are pretty cool.
As CNS notes, an exhibition on Vatican City State opens tomorrow, Feb. 12. in the Braccio di Carlo Magno in St. Peter’s Square.
Among the many interesting and notable objects at the show will be the actual accord from the Vatican Secret Archives, making it the first time the original treaty will be on public display.
There will also be a scale model made out of birch wood of the 108-acre Vatican City State and the magnificent miter of Pope Pius XI who oversaw the building of the state’s new infrastructure during his 1922-1939 pontificate.
Car lovers will enjoy the one-of-a-kind Citroen “Lictoria” parked at the show. It was specially made for Pope Pius XI and has a throne in the back seat.
As to that last one, well, times change–even in the Vatican.
I was trying to come up with a funny name for the vehicle pictured in David G’s contribution, but when I inadvertently moved my cursor over the picture, the name that popped up was better (and funnier) than anything I could have devised. ;)
“All I want is a small corner of the earth where I am master,” Enuf said.
That’s as precious as when he said, “I am the tradition.” Bless your pea-pickin’ heart.
“La tradizione sono io” is parallel is structure to the aphorism attributed to Louis XIV “l’etat c’est moi”. Both attributions may be apocryphal. Both lose something in translation. Incidentally did Pius XI reall describe Mussolini as a “man sent by God”?
May be, we expect too much from the Pope! This is from Karl Rahner
“The true lights of the Church, those who are most important for the eternal salvation of mankind as well as of individuals are not the Pope, the bishops or the cardinals in their red cassocks, but those who possess and radiate most faith, hope and love, most humility and unselfishness, most fortitude in carrying the cross, most happiness and confidence. If a Pope does all this as well or perhaps even better than, for example, John XXIII, well, then he is not only a Pope but a wonderful Christian, then it happens that, if I may say so, the president of the chess club is for once also himself a great chess player. But this would be a happy coincidence which God is not bound to bring about and which he has not guaranteed. If we are looking at the Church in this way, we shall not find it difficult to accept that the cashier is responsible for the finances and the president of this holy society directs its activities. But we ought to remain conscious of what is both our pride and our burden, namely that the Church depends ultimately on ourselves. ”
(Grace in Freedom – http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=2079&C=1960 )
Sunil Korah–I doubt you will check in here again, but just for the record, thanks for the reference above. David