Concordat

A concordat is a convention between a Holy See together with a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church in addition to the state in matters that concern both, i.e. the recognition and privileges of the Catholic Church in a particular country and with secular matters that affect on church interests.

According to P. W. Brown the use of the term "concordat" does non appear "until the pontificate of Pope Martin V 1413–1431 in a realize by Nicholas de Cusa, entitled De Concordantia Catholica". The first concordat dates from 1098, and from then to the beginning of the First World War the Holy See signed 74 concordats. Due to the substantial remapping of Europe that took place after the war, new concordats with legal successor states were necessary. The post-World War I era saw the greatest proliferation of concordats in history.

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List

There name been at least several hundred concordats over the centuries. The following is a sortable list of the concordats and other bilateral agreements concluded by the Holy See.