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In 1542, Pope Paul III (1534-50) established the Roman Inquisition to battle Protestantism in
Italy. The operation was carried out by a Commission governed by six Cardinals, called the
Congregation of the Inquisition. As Catholicism expanded, they concerned themselves only with
maintaining religious order, and in 1908, Pope Pius X renamed them the Holy Office, and they
were charged with maintaining the purity of the faith. In 1965, Pope Paul VI (1963-78)
reorganized the group, and renamed it the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Pope Pius IX (1846-78) said that Protestantism is “no form of Christian religion” and Pope
Leo XIII (1878-1903) condemned religious freedom and Bible translations, and said that
“everyone separated from the Roman Catholic Church, however unblamable in other respects,
has no part in Eternal Life.” He also said that he was the head of all rulers, that he was God’s
earthly ruler, and that the Protestants were the “enemies of the Christian name.”
Pope Pius X (1903-14), when he was Archbishop of Venice, said: “The Pope is not only the
representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh. Does
the Pope speak? It is Jesus Christ who speaks (as reported in the Catholic Nationale, July 13,
1895).” As Pope, he said that the Reformation leaders were “enemies of the Cross of Christ.”
Pope Pius XI (1922-39) said in 1928, that the Roman Catholic Church was the only Church of
Christ.
In the 1800’s, the Vatican wasn’t doing very well financially. Their credit was so bad that no
Christian banker would help them. In 1835, James Mayer Rothschild (1792-1868) stepped in and
lent them $200,000. Pope Gregory XVI (1831-46) was so grateful that he awarded the
Rothschild family with a Papal decoration. Ever since then, the Rothschilds have been one of the
financial agents of the Vatican. But that still wasn’t enough. Properties were sold, relics of the
saints were sold, a percentage of the money received at the Shrine of Lourdes was taken,
annulments were sold; and they also raised money by selling straw from the Pope’s bed, candles,
rosaries, and images of the Madonna. They also tried to raise money in 1868 by establishing the
Peter’s Pence in the United States, a year after the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with the
Vatican (which were later reestablished in 1984).
For years, the Popes ruled a 16,000 square mile area in central Italy, which was referred to as
the Papal States. That was reduced to about 4,891 square miles in 1860 when the Kingdom of
Italy was formed. In September, 1870, Italian troops marched on Rome and ended the temporal
power of the Pope, and limited his sovereignty to the palaces of the Vatican, the Lateran in
Rome, and the villa of Castel Gandolfo. On February 11, 1929, Cardinal Gasparri and Italian
Premier Benito Mussolini signed the Treaty of Conciliation (known as the Lateran Agreement),
which established the independent state of Vatican City, and also made Catholicism the official
religion of Italy. The agreement compensated the Vatican for their lost land ($40,000,000), and
transferred about 5% of the government’s bonds (about $50,000,000) to them. The Lateran
Treaty was made part of the Italian Constitution (Article 7) in 1947.
Vatican City in Rome is the world’s smallest independent country, taking in an area of nearly
109 acres. It includes St. Peters’s Basilica, which covers an area of 163,200 square feet, making
it the world’s largest church; the Vatican Palace, which has 1,400 rooms, 200 staircases, and is
the largest residence in the world; the Vatican Museum, which sits on thirteen acres, and
contains the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo painted his “Last Judgment” on the ceiling;
various buildings between Viale Vaticano and the Church; and the Vatican Gardens. Thirteen
buildings outside the boundaries possess extraterritorial rights, and house people necessary for
the administration of the Church. The name ‘Vatican,’ means ‘center of divination.’
With a population of 800, about 3,000 employees, and an operating budget of over $100