Folia Canonica 8. (2005)

STUDIES - Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi: The Changes of Modern Era Relation of Church and State in Europe

THE CHANGES OF MODERN ERA RELATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN EUROPE 71

III. Role of the Apostolic Holy See on international level in the

RELATIONSHIP OF CHURCH AND STATE

In spite of the fact that, with the secularization of state power, the secular legal frame and effect of Church’s independent legal system changed fundamentally and the most important parts of that became irrelevant to the State, the Apostolic Holy See, as a subject of international law, further maintained her rights to sign bilateral agreements in regard to the operation of the Catholic Church, which as part of the international law obligate the signing partners to the execution of what is included in it.34 These agreements between the Apostolic Holy See and individual states, which record and arrange the most important common questions, are called concordat. These questions are the Church’s freedom and her rights; circumstances of appointing bishops; Church and state regulations of parish priests and army chaplains and questions related to their activities and monetary compensation; Church’s immunity; regulation of Catholic education and pedagogy; and area of marriage law. In addition to this, it exists the so-called partial agreement, or the form of “modus vivendi.”35 The concordat is signed by two sovereign authorities (religious and secular) and not by two states. In this agreement only one party is a state meanwhile the other one is an association organized for spiritual purpose. This “association” enters into agreement with individual states in regard to those responsibilities and rights, which are due to the functioning Church in that state. This kind of contract fundamentally differs of agreements between government of individual states and various religious groups because those are created not between two international legal subjects therefore needed not to be ratified by the given country’s parliament. The text of agreement is a stressed source of the particular Church law of the given country and because that is part of international law so both parties’ approval is necessary to change it. The stability of agreement content is secured by Church law, too, what is well illustrated by Canon 3 of the effective Code of Canon Law announced on January 25,1983. Accordingly the new codex does not modify those agreements, which were signed earlier by the Apostolic Holy See.36 To make modification in the international bilateral agreements, it is necessary an essential and radical change of the circumstances. Even though the Holy See has been enjoying territorial sovereignty by the Lateran Treaty ratified in 1929, again after October 9,1870, this is not a condition to be a subject of international law, only a

34 Graham, R., Vatican Diplomacy. A Study of Church and State on the International Plane, Princeton (NJ) 1959. 157-183.

35 Erdő, P., Egyházjog (Szent István kézikönyvek 7), Budapest 2003.3 86.

36 Canon 3 - The canons of the Code neither abrogate nor derogate from the agreements entered into by the Apostolic See with nations or other political societies. These agreements therefore continue in force exactly as at present, notwithstanding contrary prescripts of this Code.