# Posted 5:28 PM by Patrick Belton  

TODAY IS THE BIRTHDAY of Vatican City as a sovereign state, through the Lateran Treaty ratified on June 7th, 1929 by Mussolini and Papal Secretary of State Cardinal Gasparri. What I find particularly interesting about this anniversary is the reflection which it provides into how extraordinarily much journalistic norms have changed in the intervening years: the New York Times's coverage of the original event has very much the texture of a society column, with several pages of reporting along the lines of

Premier Mussolini was seated in the first car with Under-Secretary Giunta. He was followed in another car by Minister of Finance Mosconi, while Minister of Justice Rocco was in a third car.
They all wore their full-dress diplomatic uniforms with the characteristic three-cornered plumed hats. Signor Mussolini wore the collar of the Annunziata, which makes him rank as a cousin of the King, as well as the broad sash of the Mauritian Order and the insignia of the Sovereign Order of Malta.

and

The Vatican text was enclosed in a red velvet case with damasked edges and bearing the Papal coat of arms. The Italian text was contained in a white morocco leather case bearing the Italian royal arms

What doesn't appear in the Times's reporting is anything that could be construed as political - which seems to us unusual, given that the entire event was the entry into force of a treaty marking the emergence of a new polity into the world's society of states. We're not told anything about the actual provisions of the treaty - how security or logistical responsibilities were to be shared among Mussolini's Italy and the Vatican City, or the extent to which Italian police could enter St Peter's Squre under the treaty. Many of these provisions, indeed, were fascinating: under article 8, any "public insult" committed within Italian territory against the Pope, "whether by means of speeches, acts, or writings, shall be punished in the same manner as offences and insults against the King"; substantial extraterritoriality provisions are granted the Vatican over other churches and papal buildings in Rome; and under article 3, Italian police are granted the ability to enter into St Peter's Square, though it forms part of the nation of Vatican City. Instead of covering the actual stuff of diplomacy, though, the Times is seized by its ephemera, and the column reads like contemporary fawning coverage given to an idol from the popular culture, to a Tom Cruise or a (secular) Madonna. The only treatment of the actual treaty comes as an aesthetic afterthought, equal to the white morocco leather case in which the treaty was contained, or the three-pointed diplomatic garb of the Fascist Premier and his secretaries:

The document contained, among others, the following phrase:

"The high contracting parties at the moment of exchange of the ratifications of the Lateran treaties again affirm their desire loyally to observe in letter and spirit not only the treaty of conciliation in its irrevocable reciprocal recognition of sovereignties and in its definite elimination of the Roman question, but also are concerned at its lofty aims tending to regulate the condition of religion and the Church in Italy."

With all the contemporary, and just, criticism of the Times, it's useful to remember just how far the profession has come in providing analysis of foreign affairs, and in consigning fawning over celebrities' fashion to the back pages.
(0) opinions -- Add your opinion