Concordat?

At Rome the swashbuckling soldiers of Pope Pius IV were savagely attacked and soundly defeated by troops of King Vittorio Emanuele I. Momentous, this defeat was suffered in 1870. Ever since the Papacy has been without temporal power, the Pope has remained "The Prisoner of the Vatican." Last week there were signs, however, that the old feud between Church and State is soon to be composed. Today the numeral of Pope Pius is not IX but XI, and that of King Vittorio Emanuele is not I but III. The case has become plainly and simply one of "two other fellows;" and last week a report that they are moving toward rapprochement was significantly confirmed by United Press, after having been rumored some weeks ago by Hearst Universal Service.

The confirmative despatch, succinct and unequivocal, declared: "A prelate generally known as the spokesman for Cardinal Gasparri [famed, beetling-browed Papal Secretary of State] frankly said today that five basic points have been substantially agreed upon" between representatives of Dictator Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI.

The five points:

First--That the State cede to the Holy See a plot of territory west of the Vatican, including a section of the Rome-Viterbo Railway and the old St. Peter's Station.

Second--That absolute sovereignty over this territory be vested in the Pope, inhabitants of the new Papal State being deemed subjects not of the King of Italy but of the Supreme Pontiff.

Third--That the Holy See delegate suitable territory in the new Papal State to the Italian State for purposes of civic administration.

Fourth--That the Italian Treasury pay to the Papal Treasury 1,000,000 lire in reparation for the numerous seizures of Papal property in 1870,

Fifth--That the Papal State and the Italian State formally recognize one another and exchange ambassadors.

Should a concordat be signed in the indicated sense, Pope Pius XI would be free to emerge from the Vatican and might even tour the U. S., as did King Albert of the Belgians. Once more there might be belligerent Papal troops, and a revival of the Church Militant in its non-Catholic connotation--i.e., a political state ruled by the Pope in an absolute capacity. Presumably, however, the neutrality of the Papal State would be even more studied and scrupulous than Belgium's.

Throughout the week no slightest mention of the proposed Concordat was made by Il Duce or Il Re. The favorable disposition of His Majesty is well known; but less than a year has passed since Editor Arnaldo Mussolini, brother of Benito, roundly declared in II Popolo d'ltolia that no possibility of a Church-State agreement then existed (TIME, April 9). However the Papal spokesman said, last week, that the rapprochement to which he referred had been negotiated "since September last."