REGLEMENTĂRI ALE PACTELOR DE LA LATERAN PRIVIND RAPORTURILE ÎNTRE STAT ȘI BISERICA CATOLICĂ
REGULATIONS OF THE LATERAN COVENANTS ON RELATIONS BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Summary/Abstract: Relations between the Italian State and the Catholic Church were regulated by the Lateran Pacts, with some subsequent modifications accepted by both parties, and which did not require constitutional revision procedures. Moreover, Article 7 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic confirms that relations between the State and the Catholic Church are regulated by the Lateran Pacts. However, from the subsequent amendments made to the text of the Lateran Concordat in 1985, it can be seen that, from that year, the „Catholic religion”, i.e. the Catholic Confession, is no longer the „sole religion of the Italian State”. But, in accordance with the provisions of the constitutional text, both institutions, the State and the Catholic Church, remained „each in its own sphere independent and sovereign” (Art. 7 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic). Under the provisions of the Lateran Pacts and the Constitution, however, the Catholic Church in Italy enjoys a different legal status from that of the other religious Confessions as regards its relations with the Italian State. As both the text of these provisions and their commentaries show, the Italian State has recognised the Catholic Church’s status as such for the meritorious contribution it has made to Italian society over the centuries. Hence the fact that the Italian State’s relations with the other religious denominations were not regulated by pacts, treaties or agreements, but by special laws based on agreements with their representatives.

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