(Vatican Radio ) There's never been a Concordat in an English speaking country because
of the use of common law" says Jesuit historian Professor Gerald Fogarty who's currently
teaching at the University of Virginia in the United States. "... in Roman law
tradition which runs throughout most of Europe", Professor Fogarty tells Veronica
Scarisbrick, "you have the rights the State gives you. So therefore the Concordat
was an agreement between the Holy See and the government to guarantee the rights of
the Church within a particular country . " Professor Fogarty also tells Veronica
Scarisbrick how since 1870 when Pius IX retreated into the Vatican the Roman Pontiffs
never even visited their own Cathedral. That's not until the signing of the Lateran
Pacts on the 11th February 1929. In this Programme you can also hear how Pope Pius
XI reacted when Hitler came to Rome.