Concordat

Concordat, treaty concluded between the pope and the secular government of a state to regulate religious affairs within the state and deal with such questions as the appointment of bishops and the status of church property. The most notable concordat was the Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII which reestablished the Roman Catholic Church in France. The best-known recent concordat (1929) is the Lateran Treaty, arranged between Pius XI and Victor Emmanuel III of Italy which established Vatican City as a sovereign state.