The Papal States

Question from Anon on 2/15/2008:  
Hello Mr. Bunson,

Why was the temporal power of the Popes in Italy (the Papal States) necessary for so long? Was this power a good thing or a bad thing? I hear different views as to whether it was salutary or not.

Thank you.
Answer by Matthew Bunson on 2/29/2008: 
The history of the Papal States can be traced in part to the St. Gregory I the Great (d. 604) who held the responsibility not only of governing the Universal Church but of effectively running Rome and the surrounding regions. The Roman Empire was dead, civil government in Italy had collapsed, and it fell to the pontiff to maintain some semblance of rule and order. Over the succeeding centuries, the popes assumed an increasingly political role, both as the ruler of the Papal States and as a leader in Christendom. They remained, of course, supreme heads of the Church. They thus were important in the organization of the complex medieval civilization, including the foundation of the Carolingian Empire in 800 when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne in Rome and retaining the right to crown the subsequent claimants of the Holy Roman Empire. The States themselves were temporal possessions ruled over by the pope in Italy and, for a time, in France, until 1870. They were born officially in the eighth century when Pope Stephen II (III) (r. 752-757) asked for the aid of the then powerful Franks against the invading Lombards. The request led to the Donation of Pepin in 756, giving to the Church even more land, roughly equal to the old Byzantine exarchate of Ravenna and the so-called Pentapolis (a stretch of territory along the Adriatic coast comprised of Ancona, Senigallia, Pesaro, Rimini, and Faso).

Henceforth, the popes were feudal lords, with their domain extending to Emilia-Romagna, the Marches, Umbria, Latium, and the French sites of Avignon and Venaissin. The practical value of the Papal States in the Middle Ages was they added to the prestige of the papacy and allowed the popes to speak on equal temporal terms with the other monarchs of Christendom. The States also offered a buffer zone between the popes and ambitious rulers who might try to influence the papacy and hence the Church. The States were annexed by Napoleon in 1809 and then restored after the fall of the French emperor. The restoration did not last, for the unification of Italy, the Risorgimento, culminated in 1860 with the seizure of the States. Only Rome was left to Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-1878) and this too fell in 1870, effectively ending centuries of papal rule. By the terms of the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the Holy See received officially the temporal possessions of the State of the Vatican City and other extraterritorial holdings such as Castel Gandolfo. Today, the pope is head of the State of Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano).

The smallest sovereign state in the world, it is situated within the city of Rome, embraces an area of 108.7 acres, and includes within its limits the Vatican Palace, museums, art galleries, gardens, libraries, radio station, post office, bank, astronomical observatory, offices, apartments, service facilities, St. Peter’s Basilica, and neighboring buildings between the Basilica and Viale Vaticano. The extraterritorial rights of Vatican City extend to more than 10 buildings in Rome, including the major basilicas and office buildings of various congregations of the Roman Curia, and to the papal villas at Castel Gandolfo 15 miles southeast of the City of Rome. Castel Gandolfo is the summer residence of the Holy Father. The government of Vatican City is in the hands of the reigning pope, who has full executive, legislative and judicial power. The administration of affairs, however, is handled by the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City (currently under Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, an American). The legal system is based on Canon Law; in cases where this code does not obtain, the laws of the City of Rome apply. The City is an absolutely neutral state and enjoys all the rights and privileges of a sovereign power. The citizens of Vatican City, and they alone, owe allegiance to the pope as a temporal head of state. On November 26, 2000, Pope John Paul II promulgated the new Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State. Judged today, the States might seem an odd temporal holding, but seen historically, they served a valuable purpose in safeguarding the papacy from the host of rulers, emperors, and kings who had designs on controlling the Church and dominating every aspect of her life.