115-590: A concordat ( French pronunciation: [kɔ̃kɔʁda] ) is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both, i.e. the recognition and privileges of the Catholic Church in a particular country and with secular matters that affect church interests. According to P. W. Brown the use of
230-635: A centre-left coalition majority instituted a commission to investigate the Mitrokhin Commission for allegations that it was manipulated for political purposes. In a December 2006 interview given to the television program La storia siamo noi , colonel ex-KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky, whom Scaramella claimed as his source, confirmed the accusations made against Scaramella regarding the production of false material relating to Prodi and other Italian politicians, and underlined their lack of reliability. Despite this, those claims were further repeated by
345-412: A hairdresser ; some polling stations were also provided outside the country for Italians abroad. Most of the party leaders claimed a result of 1 million voters would be a good success for the election, but over four million people for the occasion went to cast a vote in the primary election. After having won the centre-left primary election, Prodi led The Union coalition in the 2006 election . The Union
460-468: A symbolic candidate , to avoid a one-candidate election. After some time, more candidates were presented, like Union of Democrats for Europe leader Clemente Mastella , Italy of Values leader and former magistrate Antonio Di Pietro , Federation of the Greens leader Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio and others few minor candidates. The primary election may have been foreseen an easy win for Romano Prodi, with
575-479: A century. Prodi's economic programme consisted in continuing the past governments' work of restoration of the country's economic health, in order to pursue the then seemingly unreachable goal of leading the country within the strict European Monetary System parameters in order to allow the country to join the Euro currency. He succeeded in this in little more than six months. During his first premiership, Prodi faced
690-578: A church–state perspective, the contentions regarding concordats involves two perspectives. From a Catholic perspective, the Church has the moral and theological right to enter into diplomatic relations with states in order to reach agreements regarding the care of its members residing there. This is the concept of Libertas ecclesiae (freedom of the Church). From a non-Catholic perspective, concordats may pose certain concerns such as: Due to these concerns,
805-551: A democratic move to bring the public and its opinion closer to the Italian politics. When the primary elections were first proposed, they were mostly meant as a plebiscite for Romano Prodi, since there were no other candidates for the leadership of the coalition. The secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party, Fausto Bertinotti , then announced he would run for the leadership, even if only to act as
920-679: A letter to Siemens from the Frankfurt office of Goldman Sachs regarding the Italdel deal, which revealed that Prodi was made the Senior Advisor of Goldman Sachs International in Italy in March 1990. In November 1996, after Prodi had been elected prime minister, Rome prosecutor Guiseppa Geremia concluded that there was enough evidence to press charges against Prodi for conflict of interest in
1035-545: A new government was formed. Prodi was the first left-leaning candidate to finish first in an Italian general election since 1921 . On 14 October 2007, Prodi became the founding president of the Democratic Party upon foundation of the party. On 12 September 2008, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon selected Prodi as president of the African Union –United Nations peacekeeping panel. Since 2021, he
1150-687: A papal official in Rome, manages this portion of the Holy See's assets—consisting of British investments, other European holdings and a currency trading arm. The Guardian newspaper described Mennini and his role in the following manner: "... Paolo Mennini, who is in effect the Pope's merchant banker . Mennini heads a special unit inside the Vatican called the extraordinary division of APSA – Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica – which handles
1265-539: A proposal from the Italian People's Party (PPI) to run for the 1994 European election . On 13 February 1995 Prodi, along with his close friend Arturo Parisi , founded his political alliance The Olive Tree . Prodi's aim was to build a centre-left coalition composed by centrist and leftist parties, opposed to the centre-right alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned from the office of prime minister few weeks before, when Lega Nord withdrew his support to
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#17327654357601380-457: A sovereign juridical entity . According to Catholic tradition and historical records, it was founded in the first century by Saints Peter and Paul , and by virtue of the doctrines of Petrine and papal primacy, it is the focal point of full communion for Catholic Christians around the world. The Holy See is headquartered in, operates from, and exercises "exclusive dominion" over the independent Vatican City State enclave in Rome, of which
1495-575: A stop-gap operation to manage this and buy time, laying the foundations for a planned reconstruction, which after six weeks of debate fell to the Western European Union , creating the Multinational Albanian Police Element around a command structure of Italian Carabinieri , which actually undertook the work of Judicial and Police reconstruction, extending into the elimination of the economic causes of
1610-562: A strong supporter of European Integration , became President of the European Commission , thanks to the support of both the conservative European People's Party , the social-democratic Party of European Socialists and the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party in the European Parliament. His commission took office on 13 September 1999 following the scandal and subsequent resignation of
1725-414: A trial about Moro's murder. Moro's widow later declared that she had repeatedly informed the police that a Via Gradoli existed in Rome, but the investigators did not consider it; some replied to her that the street did not appear in Rome's maps. This is confirmed by other Moro relatives but strongly denied by Cossiga, who served as Interior Minister during Moro's kidnapping. In the 1990s, the séance matter
1840-668: A vote of confidence 1998. He was subsequently appointed President of the European Commission in 1999, serving until 2004. Following the victory of his new coalition, The Union , over the House of Freedoms led by Silvio Berlusconi , at the 2006 election , Prodi became prime minister a second time. On 24 January 2008, he lost a vote of confidence in the Senate and consequently tendered his resignation as prime minister to President Giorgio Napolitano ; he continued in office for almost four months for routine business until early elections were held and
1955-416: Is a member-state in various intergovernmental international organizations , and that it is: "respected by the international community of sovereign States and treated as a subject of international law having the capacity to engage in diplomatic relations and to enter into binding agreements with one, several, or many states under international law that are largely geared to establish and preserving peace in
2070-513: Is also the case in Côte d'Ivoire , where far larger sums are involved. The Basilica at Yamoussoukro , is estimated to have cost $ 300 million, and the additional running expenses for what is the largest church in the world are also shielded from scrutiny by the 1992 concordat concluded with the Ivorian president. Houphouët-Boigny claimed that these funds came from his private fortune. A Vatican official
2185-531: Is considered the founder of the Italian centre-left and one of the most prominent figures of the Second Republic . He is often nicknamed Il Professore ("The Professor") due to his academic career. A former professor of economics and international advisor to Goldman Sachs , Prodi ran as lead candidate of The Olive Tree coalition, winning the 1996 election and serving as prime minister until losing
2300-595: Is listed in the Annuario Pontificio under "Holy See", not under "State of Vatican City". At the end of 2005, the Guard had 134 members. Recruitment is arranged by a special agreement between the Holy See and Switzerland. All recruits must be Catholic, unmarried males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces with certificates of good conduct, be between
2415-476: Is reported to have called the agreement over the foundation set up to administer these funds "a delicate matter". Nevertheless, this concordat ensures that the foundation's income and assets remain untaxed (art. 9.1), it holds these funds beyond the reach of both criminal and civil law (art. 7.1), it permits this money to be sent out of the country (art. 13.2) and it keeps all the foundation's documents "inviolable", in other words, secret (art. 8). In Colombia there
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#17327654357602530-668: Is serving as the United Nations Special Envoy for the Sahel . Prodi was born in Scandiano , near Reggio Emilia , in 1939; he is the eighth of nine children. His father, Mario Prodi, was an engineer grown up in a peasant family, and his mother, Enrichetta, was an elementary school teacher. Most of the brothers are, or have been, university professors, among them Giovanni Prodi (professor of mathematical analysis), Vittorio Prodi (professor of physics and member of
2645-774: Is the See's equivalent of a prime minister. Archbishop Paul Gallagher , Secretary of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, acts as the Holy See's minister of foreign affairs . Parolin was named in his role by Pope Francis on 31 August 2013. The Secretariat of State is the only body of the Curia that is situated within Vatican City. The others are in buildings in different parts of Rome that have extraterritorial rights similar to those of embassies. Among
2760-569: The 1997 Albanian civil unrest ; his government proposed the so-called Operation Alba ("Sunrise"), a multinational peacekeeping force sent to Albania in 1997 and led by Italy . It was intended to help the Albanian government restore law and order in their troubled country after the 1997 rebellion in Albania . Following the degenerating loss of administrative control by the Government in
2875-618: The Amsterdam Treaty , but failed to be addressed at the time. The entry into force of the treaty was in doubt for a time, after its initial rejection by Irish voters in a referendum in June 2001. This referendum result was reversed in a subsequent referendum held a little over a year later. In 2004, his last year as Commission President, the European Union was enlarged to admit several more member nations, most formerly part of
2990-666: The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church , who administers the temporalities ( i.e. , properties and finances) of the See of St. Peter during this period. The government of the See, and therefore of the Catholic Church, then falls to the College of Cardinals . Canon law prohibits the College and the Camerlengo from introducing any innovations or novelties in the government of the church during this period. In 2001,
3105-702: The Cardinal Secretary of State ), through the Section for Relations with States. There are 12 internationally recognized states with which the Holy See does not have relations. The Holy See is the only European subject of international law that has diplomatic relations with the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as representing China, rather than the government of the People's Republic of China (see Holy See–Taiwan relations ). The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office speaks of Vatican City as
3220-720: The Kingdom of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire were at times strained, reaching from the Diploma Ottonianum and Libellus de imperatoria potestate in urbe Roma regarding the " Patrimony of Saint Peter " in the 10th century, to the Investiture Controversy in 1076–1122, and settled again by the Concordat of Worms in 1122. The exiled Avignon Papacy during 1309–1376 also put a strain on
3335-791: The Maastricht Treaty (or the Treaty on European Union) and the Treaty of Rome (or the Treaty establishing the European Community which, before the Maastricht Treaty, was the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community). The Treaty of Nice reformed the institutional structure of the European Union to withstand eastward expansion, a task which was originally intended to have been done by
3450-665: The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organization of American States , International Organization for Migration and in the United Nations and its agencies FAO , ILO , UNCTAD , UNEP , UNESCO , UN-HABITAT , UNHCR , UNIDO , UNWTO , WFP , WHO , WIPO . and as a full member in IAEA , OPCW , Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Although the Holy See is closely associated with Vatican City,
3565-576: The Palestine Liberation Organization ; 69 of the diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See are situated in Rome. The Holy See maintains 180 permanent diplomatic missions abroad, of which 74 are non-residential, so that many of its 106 concrete missions are accredited to two or more countries or international organizations. The diplomatic activities of the Holy See are directed by the Secretariat of State (headed by
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3680-645: The Pontifical Palace at Castel Gandolfo . The same authority is extended under international law over the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in a foreign country. Though, like various European powers, earlier popes recruited Swiss mercenaries as part of an army, the Pontifical Swiss Guard was founded by Pope Julius II on 22 January 1506 as the personal bodyguards of the Pope and continues to fulfill that function. It
3795-561: The Santer Commission which had damaged the reputation of the institution. It took over from the interim Marín Commission. The College consisted of 20 Commissioners which grew to 30 following the Enlargement of the European Union in 2004. It was the last commission to see two members allocated to the larger member states . This commission (the 10th) saw in increase in power and influence following Amsterdam Treaty . Some in
3910-473: The Savoyard era (which made the Pope a " prisoner in the Vatican " from 1870 to 1929), its international legal subject was "constituted by the ongoing reciprocity of diplomatic relationships" that not only were maintained but multiplied. The Lateran Treaty on 11 February 1929 between the Holy See and Italy recognised Vatican City as an independent city-state , along with extraterritorial properties around
4025-582: The See of Rome , Petrine See or Apostolic See , is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican City State . It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the Apostolic episcopal see of Rome and serves as the spiritual and administrative authority of the worldwide Catholic Church and the city-state. Under international law , the Holy See holds the status of
4140-688: The Soviet bloc . It was the largest single expansion of the European Union (EU), in terms of territory, number of states, and population to date; however, it was not the largest in terms of gross domestic product. It occurred on 1 May 2004. The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" countries ): Cyprus , the Czech Republic , Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Slovakia , and Slovenia . Seven of these were part of
4255-605: The UK Independence Party 's Gerard Batten , the member of the European Parliament for London who stated that he was informed of this by Litvinenko, who was his constituent and former FSB operative. The 16 February 2018 indictment of Paul Manafort unsealed on 23 February, as part of the Mueller special counsel investigation , alleges that foreign politicians hypothesized to be Prodi and Alfred Gusenbauer took payments exceeding $ 2 million from Manafort to promote
4370-793: The United Nations and its agencies, the Council of Europe , the European Communities , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe , and the Organization of American States . The word "see" comes from the Latin word sedes , meaning 'seat', which refers to the episcopal throne ( cathedra ). The term " Apostolic See " can refer to any see founded by one of the Twelve Apostles, but, when used with
4485-782: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Holy See is also a permanent observer in various international organizations, including the United Nations General Assembly , the Council of Europe , UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Holy See participates as an observer to African Union , Arab League , Council of Europe ,
4600-611: The United States did not establish diplomatic ties to the Vatican until the Ronald Reagan administration in 1984; and, to this day, the United States does not have a concordat with the Vatican, despite the two having a mutual "compromise" in terms of relationship. "Although the United States will probably not go so far as some nations have by concluding a concordat with the Vatican, it will, in effect, further
4715-428: The apostolic see of Diocese of Rome was established in the 1st century by Saint Peter and Saint Paul . The legal status of the Catholic Church and its property was recognised by the Edict of Milan in 313 by Roman emperor Constantine the Great , and it became the state church of the Roman Empire by the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 by Emperor Theodosius I . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476,
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4830-402: The "capital" of the Holy See, although it compares the legal personality of the Holy See to that of the Crown in Christian monarchies and declares that the Holy See and the state of Vatican City are two international identities. It also distinguishes between the employees of the Holy See (2,750 working in the Roman Curia with another 333 working in the Holy See's diplomatic missions abroad) and
4945-445: The 'patrimony of the Holy See'." The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See are conferred by the Pope as temporal sovereign and fons honorum of the Holy See, similar to the orders awarded by other heads of state . The Holy See has been recognized, both in state practice and in the writing of modern legal scholars, as a subject of public international law , with rights and duties analogous to those of States . Although
5060-423: The 1,909 employees of the Vatican City State. The British Ambassador to the Holy See uses more precise language, saying that the Holy See "is not the same as the Vatican City State. ... (It) is the universal government of the Catholic Church and operates from the Vatican City State." This agrees exactly with the expression used by the website of the United States Department of State, in giving information on both
5175-412: The Catholic Church the tax-exempt status of a charity, being by fact the largest charitable institution in the world, either stating this explicitly, as in Brazil (2008, Article 15) and Italy (1984, Article 7.3), or phrasing it indirectly, as in Portugal (2004, art. 12). When the political will is present, such concordat privileges can be extended by domestic legislation. In 1992, the tax exemption granted
5290-425: The Catholic Church through the Roman Curia . The Curia consists of a complex of offices that administer church affairs at the highest level, including the Secretariat of State , nine Congregations , three Tribunals , eleven Pontifical Councils, and seven Pontifical Commissions. The Secretariat of State, under the Cardinal Secretary of State , directs and coordinates the Curia. The incumbent, Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
5405-438: The Church by the Italian concordat was interpreted by a law which permits the Catholic Church to avoid paying 90% of what it owes to the state for its commercial activities. Thus, a small shrine within the walls of a cinema, holiday resort, shop, restaurant or hotel is sufficient to confer religious exemption. In June 2007 Neelie Kroes , the European Commissioner for Competition announced an investigation of this. Then, in August,
5520-407: The Commission, constitute part of the fifth enlargement. The commission was due to leave office on 31 October 2004, but due to opposition from the European Parliament to the proposed Barroso Commission which would succeed it, it was extended and finally left office on 21 November 2004. When his mandate expired, Prodi returned to domestic politics. Shortly before the end of his term as President of
5635-437: The Economic Affairs of the Holy See coordinates the finances of the Holy See departments and supervises the administration of all offices, whatever be their degree of autonomy, that manage these finances. The most important of these is the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See . The Prefecture of the Papal Household is responsible for the organization of the papal household, audiences, and ceremonies (apart from
5750-399: The European Commission, Prodi returned to national Italian politics at the helm of the enlarged centre-left coalition, The Union . Having no party of his own, in order to officially state his candidacy for the 2006 general election , Prodi came up with the idea of an apposite primary election , the first of such kind to be ever introduced in Europe and seen by its creator (Prodi himself) as
5865-477: The European Parliament ), Paolo Prodi (professor of modern history), Franco Prodi [ it ] (professor of atmospheric physics), and Giorgio Prodi (professor of general pathology). In 1969, Prodi married Flavia Franzoni, at that time a student, who later became an economist and university professor. The couple was married by Camillo Ruini , now a well-known cardinal . They have two sons, Giorgio and Antonio. His wife Flavia died on 13 June 2023, at
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#17327654357605980-425: The Holy See and the Vatican City State: it too says that the Holy See "operates from the Vatican City State". The Holy See is a member of various international organizations and groups including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Telecommunication Union , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and
6095-439: The Holy See had a revenue of 422.098 billion Italian lire (about US$ 202 million at the time), and a net income of 17.720 billion Italian lire (about US$ 8 million). According to an article by David Leigh in the Guardian newspaper, a 2012 report from the Council of Europe identified the value of a section of the Vatican's property assets as an amount in excess of €680m (£570m); as of January 2013, Paolo Mennini,
6210-416: The Holy See is often metonymically referred to as the " Vatican ", the Vatican City State was distinctively established with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, between the Holy See and Italy, to ensure the temporal , diplomatic, and spiritual independence of the papacy. As such, papal nuncios , who are papal diplomats to states and international organizations, are recognized as representing the Holy See and not
6325-422: The Holy See, as distinct from the Vatican City State, does not fulfill the long-established criteria in international law of statehood —having a permanent population, a defined territory, a stable government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states —its possession of full legal personality in international law is shown by the fact that it maintains diplomatic relations with 180 states, that it
6440-449: The Italdel- Siemens merger, and secondly concerning the sale of the loss-making state-owned food conglomerate SME to the multinational Unilever , for which he had previously been a paid consultant. Prodi's former employer Goldman Sachs was involved in both of the deals. In February 2007 the Italian Treasury Police raided the Milan office of Goldman Sachs, where they removed a file called " MTononi /memo-Prodi02.doc". They also obtained
6555-428: The KGB. According to the opposition, which submitted its own minority report, this hypothesis was false, and the purpose of the commission was therefore to discredit him. In the wiretaps, Scaramella had the task of collecting testimonies from some ex-agents of the Soviet secret service refugees in Europe to support these accusations; he was later charged for calumny . In November 2006, the new Italian Parliament with
6670-413: The Pope is sovereign . The Holy See is administered by the Roman Curia (Latin for "Roman Court"), which is the central government of the Catholic Church. The Roman Curia includes various dicasteries , comparable to ministries and executive departments, with the Cardinal Secretary of State as its chief administrator. Papal elections are carried out by part of the College of Cardinals . Although
6785-419: The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons , a binding agreement for negotiations for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. A difference between the two coats of arms is that the arms of the Holy See have the gold key in bend and the silver key in bend sinister (as in the sede vacante coat of arms and in the external ornaments of the papal coats of arms of individual popes), while the reversed arrangement of
6900-424: The Senate to 156 for Berlusconi's coalition. Even so, Berlusconi refused to concede defeat, claiming unproven fraud. Prodi's appointment was somewhat delayed, as the outgoing president of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi , ended his mandate in May, not having enough time for the usual procedure (consultations made by the president, appointment of a prime minister, the motion of confidence and oath of office). After
7015-475: The Unilever deal. The case was however shut down within weeks by superiors, while Geremia was "exiled to Sardinia ". On 25 May 1994, Prodi went to Palazzo Chigi to announce his resignation as IRI President to the new Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ; the resignation had been formalised on 31 May and became effective on 22 July. On 11 August, Prodi announced to the Gazzetta di Reggio of his intent to enter politics. A few months earlier, Prodi had rejected
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#17327654357607130-506: The Vatican City State, as prescribed in the Canon law of the Catholic Church . The Holy See is thus viewed as the central government of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. The Catholic Church, in turn, is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world. The Holy See maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with 183 sovereign states, signs concordats and treaties, and performs multilateral diplomacy with multiple intergovernmental organizations , including
7245-401: The Vatican City was created by the Lateran Treaty in 1929 to "ensure the absolute and visible independence of the Holy See" and "to guarantee to it indisputable sovereignty in international affairs." Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran , the Holy See's former Secretary for Relations with States, said that Vatican City is a "minuscule support-state that guarantees the spiritual freedom of the Pope with
7360-425: The age of 76. After completing his secondary education at the Liceo Ludovico Ariosto in Reggio Emilia, Prodi graduated in law at Milan 's Università Cattolica in 1961 with a thesis on the role of protectionism in the development of Italian industry. He then carried out postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics . Prodi has received almost 20 honorary degrees from institutions in Italy, and from
7475-410: The ages of 19 and 30, and be at least 175 centimetres (5 feet 9 inches) in height. Members are armed with small arms and the traditional halberd (also called the Swiss voulge ), and trained in bodyguarding tactics. The police force within Vatican City, known as the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City , belongs to the city state, not to the Holy See. The Holy See signed the UN treaty on
7590-444: The case of his client, Viktor Yanukovich ; both denied this and said their work was focused to get closer European Union–Ukraine relations . After leaving his position in 1989, Prodi ran the Bologna based consulting company Analisi e Studi Economici , which he jointly owned along with his wife. Between 1990 and 1993 the company earned £ 1.4 million, most of which was paid by the investment bank Goldman Sachs . In 1993, Prodi
7705-495: The civil authorities on what many in Colombia considered to be a serious felony. There have been at least several hundred concordats over the centuries. The following is a sortable list of the concordats and other bilateral agreements concluded by the Holy See. Holy See The Holy See ( Latin : Sancta Sedes , lit. 'Holy Chair ', Ecclesiastical Latin : [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes] ; Italian : Santa Sede [ˈsanta ˈsɛːde] ), also called
7820-443: The count progressed. On 11 April 2006, Prodi declared victory; Berlusconi never conceded defeat explicitly but this is not required by the Italian law . Preliminary results showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the Chamber of Deputies , with 340 seats to 277, thanks to obtaining a majority bonus (actual votes were distributed 49.81% to 49.74%). One more seat is allied with The Union ( Aosta Valley ) and 7 more seats in
7935-445: The crisis. The Italian 3rd Army Corps assumed responsibility for the stop-gap mission as Operation Alba, the first multinational Italian-led Mission since World War II. Eleven contributing European Nations brought humanitarian aid to a country that was in a dramatic economic and political situation. In 1997, Prodi declared that "the problem of the safety of the country seems to be no longer one of external safety, but an internal one:
8050-407: The definite article, it is used in the Catholic Church to refer specifically to the see of the Bishop of Rome, whom that Church sees as the successor of Saint Peter. While St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is perhaps the church most associated with the papacy, the actual cathedral of the Holy See is the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in the city of Rome. In the Roman Catholic Church, only
8165-432: The deputy finance minister in Romano Prodi 's fragile center-left coalition said the issue needed to be tackled in the next year's budget. However, after that nothing more about this was heard from the Barroso Commission and a few months later the Prodi government fell. The Slovak concordat (2000, art. 20.2) ensures that church offertories are "not subject to taxation or to the requirement of public accountability". This
8280-520: The dicasteries and in giving them input. The Holy See does not dissolve upon a pope's death or resignation. It instead operates under a different set of laws sede vacante . During this interregnum , the heads of the dicasteries of the Curia (such as the prefects of congregations) cease immediately to hold office, the only exceptions being the Major Penitentiary , who continues his important role regarding absolutions and dispensations, and
8395-571: The first "Prime Minister of the European Union". As well as the enlargement and Amsterdam Treaty, the Prodi Commission also saw the signing and enforcement of the Treaty of Nice as well as the conclusion and signing of the European Constitution : in which he introduced the "Convention method" of negotiation. The treaty was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended
8510-695: The first coalition composed of a post-communist party to win a general election since the Second World War . In the Senate, The Olive Tree obtained the majority; in the Chamber, it required the external support of Communist Refoundation Party . On 17 May 1996, Prodi received from President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro the task of forming a new government. He ultimately formed a 23-member cabinet that included 16 PDS ministers (including Deputy Prime Minister Walter Veltroni ) and 10 PDS junior ministers–the first (former) Communists to take part in government in half
8625-578: The first days of March 1997, culminating in the desertion of most Police and many Republican Guard and Army units, leaving their armouries open to the inevitable looting which soon followed, several Nations autonomously helped evacuate their Nationals in Operation Silver Wake and Operation Libelle . The UN Security Council therefore agreed the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1101 as
8740-477: The foreign constituency. The House of Freedoms had secured a slight majority of Senate seats elected within Italy (155 seats to 154), but The Union won 4 of the 6 seats allocated to voters outside Italy , giving them control of both chambers. On 19 April 2006, Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation ruled that Prodi had indeed won the election, winning control of the Chamber of Deputies by only 24,755 votes out of more than 38 million votes cast, and winning 158 seats in
8855-571: The former Eastern Bloc (of which three were from the former Soviet Union and four were and still are members of the Central European alliance Visegrád Group ), one of the former Yugoslavia (together sometimes referred to as the "A8" countries ), and the remaining two were Mediterranean islands and former British colonies . Part of the same wave was the 2007 enlargement of the European Union that saw accession of Bulgaria and Romania, who were unable to join in 2004, but, according to
8970-905: The government. The movement was immediately supported by Mariotto Segni , leader of the centrist Segni Pact ; after few weeks the post-communist Democratic Party of the Left of Massimo D'Alema , the PPI and the Federation of the Greens also joined the Olive Tree coalition. On 19 February 1996, the outgoing Prime Minister Lamberto Dini announced that he would run in the election with a new party called Italian Renewal , allied with Prodi's Olive Tree rather than Berlusconi's Pole for Freedoms . Shortly after Berlusconi claimed that Dini "copied his electoral programme". On election day, Prodi's Olive Tree coalition won over Berlusconi's Pole for Freedoms, becoming
9085-469: The grave via a séance and a Ouija board. Whilst during this supposed séance Prodi thought Gradoli referred to a town on the outskirts of Rome, it probably referred to the Roman address of a Red Brigades safe house, located at no. 96, Via Gradoli. The information was trusted and a police group made an armed blitz in the town of Gradoli, 80 km from Rome , on the following day, 6 April, although Moro
9200-640: The greatest proliferation of concordats in history. Although for a time after the Second Vatican Council , which ended in 1965, the term 'concordat' was dropped, it reappeared with the Polish Concordat of 1993 and the Portuguese Concordat of 2004 . A different mode of relations between the Vatican and various states is still evolving, often contentiously, in the wake of a growing secularism and religious pluralism in
9315-558: The independent territory over which the Holy See is sovereign , the two entities are separate and distinct. After the Italian seizure of the Papal States in 1870, the Holy See had no territorial sovereignty. In spite of some uncertainty among jurists as to whether it could continue to act as an independent personality in international matters, the Holy See continued in fact to exercise the right to send and receive diplomatic representatives, maintaining relations with states that included
9430-537: The keys was chosen for the arms of the newly founded Vatican City State in 1929. The coat of arms of the Holy See also has no background shield, as can be seen on its official website and on the Holy See passports . Romano Prodi Romano Prodi OMRI ( Italian: [roˈmaːno ˈprɔːdi] ; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy , from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi
9545-612: The major powers Russia, Prussia , and Austria-Hungary . Where, in accordance with the decision of the 1815 Congress of Vienna , the Nuncio was not only a member of the Diplomatic Corps but its dean, this arrangement continued to be accepted by the other ambassadors. In the course of the 59 years during which the Holy See held no territorial sovereignty, the number of states that had diplomatic relations with it, which had been reduced to 16, actually increased to 29. The State of
9660-525: The media described president Prodi as being the first "Prime Minister of the European Union ". It was during Prodi's presidency, in 2002, that 11 EU member states ditched their national currencies and adopted the euro as their common currency. This commission (the 10th) saw an increase in power and influence following the Amsterdam Treaty . The treaty was the result of long negotiations which began in Messina, Sicily , on 2 June 1995, nearly forty years after
9775-640: The member states agreed to devolve certain powers from national governments to the European Parliament across diverse areas, including legislating on immigration, adopting civil and criminal laws, and enacting foreign and security policy (CFSP), as well as implementing institutional changes for expansion as new member nations join the EU. Due to this increased power of the Commission President, some media described President Prodi as being
9890-574: The minimum territory". The Holy See, not Vatican City, maintains diplomatic relations with states. Foreign embassies are accredited to the Holy See, not to Vatican City, and it is the Holy See that establishes treaties and concordats with other sovereign entities. When necessary, the Holy See will enter a treaty on behalf of Vatican City. Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty, the Holy See has extraterritorial authority over various sites in Rome and two Italian sites outside of Rome , including
10005-834: The most active of the major Curial institutions are the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , which oversees the Catholic Church's doctrine; the Congregation for Bishops , which coordinates the appointment of bishops worldwide; the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , which oversees all missionary activities; and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace , which deals with international peace and social issues. Three tribunals exercise judicial power. The Roman Rota handles normal judicial appeals,
10120-425: The most centrist; other rumours indicated such "fake" left-wing voters would vote for Bertinotti, because his leadership would likely lose any grip on the political centre . The election had been held nationwide on 16 October 2005, from 8 am to 10 pm. Poll stations were mainly managed on a voluntary basis; they were hosted mainly in squares, local party quarters, schools, and even restaurants , bars , campers and
10235-766: The most numerous being those that concern alleged nullity of marriage. The Apostolic Signatura is the supreme appellate and administrative court concerning decisions even of the Roman Rota and administrative decisions of ecclesiastical superiors (bishops and superiors of religious institutes ), such as closing a parish or removing someone from office. It also oversees the work of other ecclesiastical tribunals at all levels. The Apostolic Penitentiary deals not with external judgments or decrees, but with matters of conscience, granting absolutions from censures , dispensations, commutations, validations, condonations, and other favors; it also grants indulgences . The Prefecture for
10350-699: The notes of the Italian Parliament commission on terrorism, the séance is described as a fake, used to hide the true source of the information. In 1997, Andreotti declared that the information came from the Bologna section of Autonomia Operaia , a far-left organization with some ties with the Red Brigades, and that Francesco Cossiga also knew the true source. Judge Ferdinando Imposimato considered Andreotti's theory as possible but accused him of having kept information that could have been valuable in
10465-413: The other candidates running mostly to "measure their strengths" in the coalition, and they often talked about reaching a certain percentage rather than winning. However, there were rumours of supporters of the House of Freedoms trying to participate in the elections, and vote in favour of Mastella, reputed to be the least competent of the candidates and the least likely to win against Berlusconi, other than
10580-651: The papacy, which however finally returned to Rome. Pope Innocent X was critical of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 as it weakened the authority of the Holy See throughout much of Europe. Following the French Revolution , the Papal States were briefly occupied as the " Roman Republic " from 1798 to 1799 as a sister republic of the First French Empire under Napoleon , before their territory
10695-433: The region. Since then, Vatican City is distinct from yet under "full ownership, exclusive dominion , and sovereign authority and jurisdiction " of the Holy See ( Latin : Sancta Sedes ). God Schools Relations with: The Holy See is one of the last remaining seven absolute monarchies in the world, along with Saudi Arabia , Eswatini , United Arab Emirates , Qatar , Brunei and Oman . The Pope governs
10810-542: The religious purposes of the Vatican. Otherwise, the Vatican would have no interest in establishing diplomatic relations with the United States. Perhaps it is accurate to characterize the exchange of embassies as a compromise - meaning, the United States is willing to further the religious purposes of the Vatican, if the Vatican is willing to further the foreign policy objectives of the United States." Samuel W. Bettwy, "United States - Vatican Recognition: Background and Issues" (1984), p. 257-258 Some concordats guarantee
10925-523: The rescue of large enterprises in crisis. On 2 April 1978, Prodi and other teachers at the University of Bologna passed on a tip-off that revealed the whereabouts of the safe house where the kidnapped Aldo Moro , the former prime minister, was being held captive by the Red Brigades . Prodi stated that he had been given this tip-off by the founders of Christian Democracy, contacted from beyond
11040-499: The rest of Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. On 25 November 1978, Prodi was appointed Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Crafts in the government of the Christian Democracy leader Giulio Andreotti . Even if he was a party member, Prodi was widely considered a technical minister. As minister, he promoted a law, known as Prodi law, which aimed a regulating of the extraordinary state administration procedure for
11155-592: The result of a vote of no confidence in Prodi's government, D'Alema's nomination was passed by a single vote. This was the first occasion in the history of the Italian Republic on which a vote of no confidence had ever been called; the Republic's many previous governments had been brought down by a majority "no" vote on some crucially important piece of legislation (such as the budget). In September 1999 Prodi,
11270-518: The safety of citizens in their everyday life". Prodi's government fell in 1998 when the Communist Refoundation Party withdrew its external support. This led to the formation of a new government led by Massimo D'Alema as prime minister. There are those who claim that D'Alema, along with People's Party leader Franco Marini , deliberately engineered the collapse of the Prodi government to become prime minister himself. As
11385-545: The see of the Pope bears the right to be addressed symbolically as "holy". However, there was one exception to this rule, represented by the Bishopric of Mainz . During the Holy Roman Empire , the former Archbishopric of Mainz (which was also of electoral and primatial rank) had the privilege to bear the title of "the Holy See of Mainz" (Latin: Sancta Sedes Moguntina ). According to Catholic tradition,
11500-481: The signing of the Treaty of Rome , and reached completion in Amsterdam on 18 June 1997. Following the formal signing of the Treaty on 2 October 1997, the member states engaged in an equally long and complex ratification process. The European Parliament endorsed the treaty on 19 November 1997, and after two referendums and 13 decisions by parliaments, the member states finally concluded the procedure. Under this treaty
11615-413: The strictly liturgical part). One of Pope Francis's goals is to reorganize the Curia to prioritize its role in the church's mission to evangelize. This reform insists that the Curia is not meant to be a centralized bureaucracy, but rather a service for the Pope and diocesan bishops that is in communication with local bishops' conferences. Likewise more lay people are to be involved in the workings of
11730-714: The séance, and that Gradoli had appeared in several sessions, even if the participants had changed. Later, other Italian members of the European Commission alleged that Prodi had invented this story to conceal the real source of the tip-off, which they believed to have originated somewhere among the far-left Italian political groups. This issue came back again in 2005, when Prodi was accused of being "a KGB man" by Mario Scaramella . The allegations were rejected by Prodi. Former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Alexander Litvinenko also said that FSB deputy chief Anatoly Trofimov "did not exactly say that Prodi
11845-806: The temporal legal jurisdisction of the papal primacy was further recognised as promulgated in Canon law . The Holy See was granted territory in Duchy of Rome by the Donation of Sutri in 728 of King Liutprand of the Lombards , and sovereignty by the Donation of Pepin in 756 by King Pepin of the Franks . The Papal States thus held extensive territory and armed forces in 756–1870. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor by translatio imperii in 800. The Pope's temporal power peaked around
11960-518: The term "concordat" does not appear "until the pontificate of Pope Martin V (1413–1431) in a work by Nicholas de Cusa , entitled De Concordantia Catholica ". The first concordat dates from 1098, and from then to the beginning of the First World War the Holy See signed 74 concordats. Due to the substantial remapping of Europe that took place after the war, new concordats with legal successor states were necessary. The post-World War I era saw
12075-528: The time of the papal coronations of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire from 858, and the Dictatus papae in 1075, which conversely also described Papal deposing power . Several modern states still trace their own sovereignty to recognition in medieval papal bulls. The sovereignty of the Holy See was retained despite multiple sacks of Rome during the Early Middle Ages. Yet, relations with
12190-651: The western world. The Catholic Church historically claimed not to be bound to one form of government over another, but was willing to work with any kind of government, so long as the rights of God and believers were maintained. Pius XI wrote in 1933: Universally known is the fact that the Catholic Church is never bound to one form of government more than to another, provided the Divine rights of God and of Christian consciences are safe. She does not find any difficulty in adapting herself to various civil institutions, be they monarchic or republican, aristocratic or democratic. From
12305-549: The world." Since medieval times the episcopal see of Rome has been recognized as a sovereign entity. The Holy See (not the State of Vatican City) maintains formal diplomatic relations with and for the most recent establishment of diplomatic relations with 183 sovereign states, and also with the European Union , and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , as well as having relations of a special character with
12420-614: Was a KGB agent, because the KGB avoids using that word." The same accusation was raised in 2002 by the Mitrokhin Commission , which was closed in 2006 with a majority and a minority report, without reaching shared conclusions, and without any concrete evidence given to support the original allegations of KGB ties to Italian politicians contained in the Mitrokhin Archive . Led by the centre-right coalition majority, it
12535-454: Was a crisis between state and church in 1994 when Attorney-General Gustavo de Greiff accused several bishops of having illegal contacts with the FARC guerrillas. It turned out that under Colombia's concordat with the Holy See, members of the clergy could only be investigated by ecclesiastical courts which are ruled by canon law , and that the bishops were therefore immune from investigation by
12650-469: Was a heterogeneous alliance, which was formed by centrist parties like UDEUR and communists like PRC and Party of Italian Communists . Prodi led his coalition to the electoral campaign preceding the election, eventually on 9 and 10 April won by a very narrow margin of 25,000 votes, and a final majority of two seats in the Senate . Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as
12765-806: Was between the main candidates to become Prime Minister of Italy at the head of a technocratic government ; instead, the Governor of the Bank of Italy , Carlo Azeglio Ciampi , was chosen for this office by President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro . In 1993–1994, Prodi was appointed again President of the IRI, by Ciampi, where he oversaw extensive privatization of public assets. For his activities in this period Prodi would later twice come under investigation – firstly for an alleged conflict of interest in relation to contracts awarded to his own economic research company in relation to
12880-473: Was criticized as politically motivated, as it was focused mainly on allegations against opposition figures. 2006 saw the publication of telephone interceptions between the chairman of the Mitrokhin Commission, Forza Italia senator Paolo Guzzanti , and Scaramella. In the wiretaps, Guzzanti made it clear that the true intent of the Mitrokhin Commission was to support the hypothesis that Prodi would have been an agent financed or in any case manipulated by Moscow and
12995-529: Was not found. The supernatural element was generally not overlooked during the investigations. For example, the Italian government had engaged a diviner , hoping that he would find Moro's location. The police made another fruitless blitz in Viterbo after an abbess declared that, during a vision, she had seen him there. Prodi spoke to the Italian Parliament 's commission about the case in 1981. In
13110-639: Was reestablished. Notwithstanding, the Holy See was represented in and identified as a "permanent subject of general customary international law vis-à-vis all states" in the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). The Papal States were recognised under the rule of the Papacy and largely restored to their former extent. Despite the Capture of Rome in 1870 by the Kingdom of Italy and the Roman Question during
13225-480: Was reopened by the Italian Parliament's commission on terrorism. While Prodi (then Prime Minister) declared that he had no time for an interview, both Mario Baldassarri (senator and vice-minister in two Silvio Berlusconi cabinets) and Alberto Clò (Minister of Industry in Lamberto Dini 's cabinet and owner of the house where the séance was performed) responded to the call; they confirmed the circumstances of
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